Aftandilian Publishes OpEd on Obama’s Syria Policy
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed on the criticism of President Barack Obama’s policy on Syria.
The July 3, 2016 Op-Ed, entitled “Obama Faces Growing Criticism on Syria,” was published in The Arab Weekly.
From the text of the article:
Despite criticism from members of the US Congress and within the US State Department, US President Barack Obama is unlikely to change his Syria policy, even in the face of stymied diplomatic talks and defiance by the Syrian regime.
Obama apparently believes that more robust military action in Syria carries more risks than benefits and this remains his guiding philosophy.
In the interview Obama gave to Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic magazine, the president hinted that he was frustrated by US Secretary of State John Kerry’s and Vice-President Joe Biden’s urging for more action in Syria. Kerry admitted to Goldberg that he has more of a bias towards action than Obama but suggested that does not hurt his relationship with the president.
You can read the entire Op-Ed here.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999). Learn more about him here.