Will McCants, Defense One

Will McCants

Defense One

United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • Defense One
  • Foreign Policy
  • Brookings
  • Washington Post
  • TIME.com
  • BBC
  • The Daily Beast

Past articles by Will:

William McCants

William McCants is a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and director of its Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at Brookings. → Read More

The Danger of Picking Sides in the Qatar Crisis

For better or worse, all the Gulf nations remain vital allies for the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. → Read More

The Danger of Picking Sides in the Qatar Crisis

The Danger of Picking Sides in the Qatar Crisis By Daniel Byman and William McCants June 16, 2017 The key reason offered by Saudi Arabia and seven other nations for their sudden sundering of ties with Qatar is the country’s enabling of terrorism. They do have a point: Qatar has hosted leaders of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and has long provided a platform to Yusuf… → Read More

What the Islamic State Wants in Attacking Iran

With a spectacular and bloody assault in central Tehran, the Sunni jihadi group is fanning the flames of a sectarian war. → Read More

Islamists on Islamism today: An interview with Sayida Ounissi of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party

Sayida Ounissi of Tunisia’s Ennahda party is a member of the Tunisian Parliament, where she serves as a member of the Finance Committee. She was the youngest female appointed the head of an electoral list in Tunisia. Raised and educated largely in France, Ounissi holds a master's from the Sorbonne. → Read More

McMaster has the Islamophobes worried, and that’s a good thing

McMaster spent much of his career fighting and winning wars in the Middle East, which required him to know the local cultures and treat Muslims like humans rather than scripturally programmed robots. → Read More

Donald Trump’s sharp contrast from Obama and Bush on Islam has serious implications

It could serve as a boon to jihadist recruitment. → Read More

Experts weigh in (part 7): Is ISIS good at governing?

ISIS’ model of governance should be assessed both before and after coalition airstrikes against the group began, Hassan Hassan argues—before the strikes, ISIS had a freer hand to implement its policies. Through savagery and governance, ISIS both deterred and incentivized communities under its control. → Read More

How Western Europe Became ISIS’s Favorite Battleground

'Brussels is just the latest manifestation of the events set in motion in 2014' → Read More

Who is Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the "caliph" of so-called Islamic State, rose through the ranks of Iraqi insurgents to lead the world's most prominent militant group, writes William McCants. → Read More

Experts weigh in (part 5): Is ISIS good at governing?

The governing institutions over which the Islamic State presides currently represent the best approximation of institutionalized governance for the millions of people in Iraq and Syria under its rule. An effective policy to challenge the Islamic State must take the group’s governance agenda into account by constructing appealing alternatives to Islamic State governance rather than simply seeking… → Read More

Experts Weigh In (part 3): What is the future of al-Qaida and the Islamic State?

While al-Qaida has built durable roots in its operational zones, the Islamic State has sought rapid and visible results, worrying little about taking the time to win popular acceptance, Charles Lister argues. Will each continue to chart the same course? → Read More

Experts weigh in (part 4): Is ISIS good at governing?

The most fundamental act of governance for any state is protecting its territory. With many of the world’s most powerful militaries now dedicating significant resources towards the Islamic State’s destruction, the group has its work cut out for it in this regard. → Read More

Experts weigh in (part 2): Is ISIS good at governing?

Internal ISIS documents can provide important clues into how the group's governance has evolved, as well as problems it faces that we don't see in the endless streams of propaganda. → Read More

Why the United States can't make a magazine like ISIS

ISIS’s propaganda success isn’t just online. Its magazine, Dabiq, is read all over the world. Will McCants and Clint Watts examine the obstacles to the U.S. government producing a publication or platform as creative and effective as this ISIS magazine. → Read More

Amid rising fears of ISIS, Obama must reassure

As President Obama prepares to give the final State of the Union address of his presidency tonight, he’s promised to stay away from the technocrat’s laundry list of to-do’s. Instead, he’s expected to deliver a speech that will remind his fellow citizens of their ability to “come together as one American family.” It’s going to be a tough sell, especially when the citizens are terrified of… → Read More

Experts Weigh In: What is the future of al-Qaida and the Islamic State?

Both al-Qaida and its bête noire, the Islamic State, have benefited from the chaos unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings but they have taken different paths. Will those paths converge again or will the two organizations continue to remain at odds? Who has the best strategy at the moment? And what political changes might happen in the coming year that will reconfigure their rivalry for… → Read More

Let’s resolve to stop assuming the worst of each other in 2016

One reason rumors about Muslims have currency is that most Americans don’t know many of their Muslim neighbors. My hope for 2016 is that we’ll all try to be a little less suspicious of one another’s motives and a little more suspicious of the easy stories we tell. → Read More

Five books you should read to better understand Islam

After a recent talk about ISIS, an audience member asked Will McCants, "What can I read to help me not hate Islam?" To those with this sincere question, Will suggests five books that have helped him better understand Islam, from books on Muhammad and the Quran to Rumi and the Hebrew Bible. → Read More

How Terrorists Convince Themselves to Kill

Jihadist culture is exceptionally good at decreasing empathy → Read More