DC Events


“High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq”

May 04, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

When Emma Sky, a British civilian, volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, her assignment was only supposed to last three months. She went on to serve there longer than any other senior military or…

Sudden Justice: America's Secret Drone Wars

May 01, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

Drone warfare has quickly become the norm. Since taking office, President Obama has carried out 300 more covert strikes than President Bush did in Pakistan alone, and he has opened new fronts in Yemen and Somalia. Meanwhile armed drones are…

ISIS: State of Terror

April 14, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

In 2014, ISIS shocked the world with their brutality and the speed with which they took a large swath of Iraqi and Syrian territory. One year later, most countries, including the United States, are still trying to figure out what is driving this…

ISIS: State of Terror

April 14, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

In 2014, ISIS shocked the world with their brutality and the speed with which they took a large swath of Iraqi and Syrian territory. One year later, most countries, including the United States, are still trying to figure out what is driving this…

“The Digital Threat of ISIS & the War in Syria”

April 07, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (often referred to as ISIS, ISIL, or The Islamic State) is becoming increasingly technically sophisticated in the way they target their adversaries. In late November 2014, a Syrian activist group running the…

Abducted Abroad: Returning American Hostages

April 06, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

Hostage-taking, particularly the capture of Westerners, has emerged as a prominent jihadist tactic in recent years. In Syria and Iraq, ISIS has executed four Americans it took hostage. In Pakistan, Al Qaeda has held Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-…

Bridging the Civil-Military Divide

April 02, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

In July 1997, Thomas E. Ricks wrote an article for the Atlantic that detailed the widening gap between the U.S. military and the American public. After following a platoon of Marine recruits through basic training and their post-graduation leave…

Digital Humanitarians

March 09, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, thousands of digital volunteers mobilized online to support search and rescue efforts and human relief operations on the ground. These digital humanitarians used crowdsourcing to make sense of social media,…

“Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947”

March 03, 2015 | New America 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036

In his newest book, Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917 – 1947, Bruce Hoffman, the director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, provides a…