Iraq

Soft Power
Soft Power and Preparing for an Iraq after ISIS

On April 2 at Providence’s “Islam, the Middle East, and Christian Engagement with the Middle East” event in Middleburg, Virginia, Chris Seiple spoke about how Americans and Christians could use soft power to engage with various communities.

Obama Doctrine Revised
Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don’t: Obama Doctrine Revised

Obama and Bush demonstrate the dangers of overly aggressive and overly passive foreign policies, but they share something in common: a deeply moral vision of America’s role in the world.

Never Again
From ‘Never Again’ to ‘Never Mind’

President Obama lectured, “‘Never again’ is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security.” Perhaps “never mind” is more apt.

Redraw the Map Middle East
Redraw the Map: A Christian Call for Middle East Peace

Terry Ascott’s solution for the Middle East tramples over one of the region’s most sacred cows: Redraw the map.

Marrakesh Mosque
Erasing Christianity in the Middle East

The Marrakesh Declaration is a good—albeit late—start. Political and religious leaders in the Middle East’s Muslim-majority nations have much ground to cover to protect religious minorities. Shiites are targeted in Sunni-majority nations, Sunnis in Shiite-majority nations, and Christians virtually everywhere in the Middle East.

Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church’s Flawed Syria Policy

Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church clearly have a close relationship, but their foreign policy in Syria is flawed.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Enthronement Ceremony
Three Cheers for the Archbishop of Canterbury & British Realism!

At the Church of England’s General Synod last November, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivered one of the most rousing calls to a truly Christian realistic approach to the civil war in Syria and the rise of Islamic radicalism in recent memory.

Just War Against Islamic State ISIS
What a Just War Against the Islamic State Looks Like

Just war aims at peace. As Augustine argued, “Every man seeks peace by waging war, but no man seeks war by making peace.” We do not fight war for its own sake, or for revenge, profit, or prestige. The only conceivable rationale for waging war is to create a world of better, deeper, more lasting peace than the one that led to war in the first place.

Syrian Refugees
Scandal: U.S. Christian Groups Prioritize Muslim Refugees over Christian Ones. Here’s Why

Christians have been targeted for death, sexual slavery, displacement, cultural eradication and forced conversion by ISIS. The U.S. government’s response has been woefully inadequate — neither helping them defend themselves and stay, nor providing them asylum to leave. And now, to add insult to injury, they are casualties of the agencies contracted to resettle refugees in America.