Institute for the Study of War

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan. ISW describes itself as a non-partisan think tank providing research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs, but has been described by others as "a hawkish Washington" group favoring an "aggressive foreign policy". Though it had produced reports on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, "focusing on military operations, enemy threats, and political trends in diverse conflict zones", it first gained widespread public attention in the aftermath of the Elizabeth O'Bagy scandal in which it was involved. The non-profit organization is supported by grants and contributions from large defense contractors, including Raytheon, General Dynamics, DynCorp and others. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Political stance and influence


The Institute for the Study of War and its President, Dr. Kagan, were some of the first and strongest supporters of the controversial 'surge' strategy in Iraq. On May 25, 2010 Kagan participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill focusing on Iraq's political crisis that included remarks from Iraq's Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie and Dr. Kenneth Pollack, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kagan also participated in a Brookings Institution event entitled "Prospects for Afghanistan's Future: Assessing the Outcome of the Afghan Presidential Election" alongside Dr. Michael O'Hanlon. Kagan also helped produce the documentary The Surge: the Untold Story with ISW Chairman, U.S Army General Jack Keane (ret.) and LTG James Dubik (ret.) describing the battle of Iraq and how the United States won the war.

ISW President Kagan has conducted eight battlefield circulations of Iraq since starting ISW for the MNF-I Commanding General, three of which were in Afghanistan for CENTCOM United States Central Command and ISAF International Security Assistance Force. She participated formally on the Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team for Multi-National Force – Iraq U.S. Mission – Iraq in October 2008, and as part of the Civilian Advisory Team for the CENTCOM strategic review in January 2009. Kagan served in Kabul as a member of General Stanley McChrystal's strategic assessment team, composed of civilian experts, during his strategic review in June and July 2009. She returned to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 to assist General David Petraeus with key transition tasks following his assumption of command in Afghanistan. Kagan also serves on the Academic Advisory Board at the Afghanistan- Pakistan Center of Excellence at CENTCOM.

Research
ISW research is divided into three main categories: the Iraq Project, the Afghanistan Project, and the Middle East Security Project.

Afghanistan Project
The ISW's Afghanistan Project monitors and analyzes the effectiveness of Afghan and Coalition operations to disrupt enemy networks and secure the population, while also evaluating the results of Afghanistan’s 2010 Presidential election.

The Afghanistan Project remains focused on the main enemy groups in Afghanistan, specifically: the Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqani network, and Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin. Specific attention is paid to understanding the ethnic, tribal, and political dynamics within these areas and how these factors are manipulated by the enemy and misunderstood by the Coalition.

In 2010, ISW researchers testified before the United States Congress in regards to understanding the problems of corruption and use of local powerbrokers in ISAF’s Afghanistan strategy.

Iraq Project
The Iraq Project at the ISW produces fully documented reports that monitor and analyze the changing security and political dynamics within Iraq.

The "Surge"
Institute for the Study of War President Kagan is noted for her support of the Surge strategy in Iraq and has argued for a restructured American military strategy more generally. The Surge: the Untold Story, co-produced by ISW provides a historical account of U.S. military operations in Iraq during the Surge of forces during 2007 and 2008. As a documentary, it offers audiences a look into the story of the Surge in Iraq, as told by U.S. military commanders and diplomats as well as Iraqis.

The video documents the Iraq Surge as part of a population-centric counterinsurgency approach and features many of the top commanders and others responsible for its implementation—including Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.), Gen. David Petraeus, Amb. Ryan Crocker, Gen. Raymond Odierno, Gen. Nasier Abadi (Iraq), Col. Peter Mansoor (Ret.), Col. J.B. Burton, Col. Ricky Gibbs, Col. Bryan Roberts, Col. Sean MacFarland, Col. James Hickey, Col. David Sutherland, Col. Steven Townsend, Lt.-Col. James Crider, and Lt. James Danly (Ret.)

The Surge: The Untold Story was nominated for several awards and in 2010 was a winner of a Special Jury Award at the WorldFest film festival in Houston. It also won honors as the best documentary part of the Military Channel's Documentary Series at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C.

Iraq in 2011
Since the end of military operations in Iraq and after a general withdrawal of US forces there, ISW now focuses its research on the security and political dynamic now taking place there. ISW takes the view point that both Iraqi and U.S. military personnel believe that the Iraqi Security Forces will need additional training beyond 2011, but the mechanism for security this continued partnership is still uncertain.

Middle East Security Project
The Institute for the Study of War launched its Middle East Security Project in November 2011. The project seeks: to study the national security challenges and opportunities emerging from the Persian Gulf and wider Arab World; to identify ways the United States and Gulf States can check Iran’s growing influence and contain the threat posed by its nuclear ambitions; to explain the shifting balance of power within the Middle East caused by recent upheaval, and assess the responses of the United States and Arab States to address these changes as they emerge. The Project currently is focused on Syria and Iran and also produced a series of reports during the Libyan Revolution.

Syria
ISW has chronicled the resistance to President Bashar al-Assad through a number of reports including:
 * The Struggle for Syria in 2011
 * Syria's Armed Opposition
 * Syria's Political Opposition
 * Syria's Maturing Insurgency

Notable among these reports, Syria's Political Opposition was authored by disgraced former Institute for the Study of War staff member Elizabeth O'Bagy.

Libya
ISW released four reports on the conflict that overthrew President Muammar Gaddafi between September 19, 2011 and December 6, 2011. The series was entitled "The Libyan Revolution" with each of the four parts focused on different stages in the struggle in order to chronicle the revolution from start to finish.

Iran
The Middle East Security Project has released reports on the status of the Iranian military as well as the influence that Iran has on its neighbors in the region. These reports include "Iran's Two Navies" and "Iranian Influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan" which was co-written with the American Enterprise Institute.

Controversies
In 2013 a senior analyst at the Institute, Elizabeth O'Bagy, was fired after it was revealed she did not have the doctorate from Georgetown University as she had claimed and had obfuscated an affiliation with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based group advocating the armed overthrow of the government of Syria. The dramatic termination generated national and international headlines after O'Bagy's research for the Institute was cited in a U.S. Senate hearing on possible U.S. military intervention into Syria.