17
October 2014
Past Event
Can the Obama Administration’s ISIS Strategy Work?

Can the Obama Administration’s ISIS Strategy Work?

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
October 17, 2014
17
October 2014
Past Event

1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Speakers:
Lee Smith

Former Senior Fellow

Andrew J. Tabler

Senior Fellow, Program on Arab Politics, Washington Institute

Criticism of the Obama administration’s Middle East strategy is no longer restricted to the president’s usual opponents. Former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta – the latest in a series of departed senior officials to go public with their misgivings – now suggests that the president’s own policies helped make possible the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “When we stepped out of Iraq,” Panetta observed in a recent interview, “we created this vacuum” – and ISIS is currently filling the space.

Can the same administration now make good its mistakes and repair the damage? Will a strategy limited to coalition aerial bombardment and ancillary assistance to local fighters be sufficient to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, or are the U.S. military officials and regional allies who argue that ground troops will be required correct? In either case, to what extent are longstanding, region-wide issues – like the anti-Sunni policies pushed by Iranian assets in Iraq and Syria – a fundamental obstacle to complete success against ISIS?

To address these and other directly related questions of Middle East strategy and diplomacy, Hudson Institute hosted a timely discussion on October 17 with Lee Smith, Andrew J. Tabler, Michael Pregent, and Hussain Abdul-Hussain.

Event hashtag: #HudsonISIS

Related Events
01
August 2025
Past Event
Peru’s Strategic Moment
Featured Speakers:
Diego de la Torre
Francisco Tudela
Marc Wachtenheim
Amb. Hugo de Zela
Moderator:
Daniel Batlle
Getty Images
01
August 2025
Past Event
Peru’s Strategic Moment

Join Hudson Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle and a panel of leading analysts as they examine what lies ahead for Peru and whether the country can convert its economic potential into lasting security and sovereignty ahead of its 2026 elections.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Diego de la Torre
Francisco Tudela
Marc Wachtenheim
Amb. Hugo de Zela
Moderator:
Daniel Batlle
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
Getty Images
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War

Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director for the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Michael Doran for a conversation with Reverend Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and founder of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
29
July 2025
Past Event
Other Approaches to the US-Canada Trade Impasse
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Ed Fast
Jamie Tronnes
Moderator:
Matthew Boyse
Getty Images
29
July 2025
Past Event
Other Approaches to the US-Canada Trade Impasse

Join Hudson Senior Fellow Matt Boyse for a discussion with former Canadian Minister for Trade and Economic Development Ed Fast, and CNAPS Executive Director Jamie Tronnes, as they explore a new path forward for US-Canada relations and what other allies can learn from the process.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Ed Fast
Jamie Tronnes
Moderator:
Matthew Boyse
28
July 2025
Past Event
David Petraeus on What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine’s Battlefield Experience
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)
Moderator:
Jason Hsu
Getty images
28
July 2025
Past Event
David Petraeus on What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine’s Battlefield Experience

General David H. Petraeus (US Army, ret.) will join Hudson’s Jason Hsu for a conversation about what the war in Ukraine has revealed about the future of warfare—and what these lessons mean for Taiwanese security.

Getty images
Featured Speakers:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)
Moderator:
Jason Hsu