Stephen Biddle

People in the Syrian city of Tabqa toured the streets in celebration after Islamic State militants took over a government air base nearby on August 24, 2014.

Washington is talking tough on ISIS, but its plans for intervention don't seem to measure up

A growing number of high-ranking American officials say that ISIS, the militant group that controls much of northern Iraq, must be defeated. The White House is considering plans to send ground troops to aid Iraq in the fight, but experts say even those expanded plans won't be enough to win.

Washington is talking tough on ISIS, but its plans for intervention don't seem to measure up

US to Open Peace Talks With the Taliban

US to Open Peace Talks With the Taliban

The New Top Commander in Afghanistan

The New Top Commander in Afghanistan

US Designates Haqqani Network 'Terrorist Organization'

US Designates Haqqani Network 'Terrorist Organization'

How Military Cuts Could Impact the Economy

How Military Cuts Could Impact the Economy
Sgt. Thompson, Afghanistan, May 2010

The impact on US strategy in Afghanistan

The World's Jason Margolis looks at how the death of Osama Bin Laden might impact US strategy in Afghanistan.

The impact on US strategy in Afghanistan
The World

Afghanistan: How Is the War Going?

To assess the state of the war in Afghanistan, The Takeaway talks with Stephen Biddle, a counterinsurgency expert and senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Afghanistan: How Is the War Going?
View of Grbavica, a neighborhood of Sarajevo, Bosnia.

How wars end part V: Bosnia

Bosnia, a republic of the former Yugoslavia, was torn apart by ethnic violence in the early 1990s. A diplomatic breakthrough helped end that war in 1995.

How wars end part V: Bosnia
Three U.S. Navy McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet fighters from strike fighter squadron VFA-83 Rampagers fly in formation over the desert during "Operation Desert Storm" on 3 February 1991.

How wars end part IV: the Gulf War

The Gulf War unfolded almost without a hitch and unlike Vietnam, the ending seemed clean, but it didn't take long for that image to unravel.

How wars end part IV: the Gulf War
Union soldiers entrenched along the west bank of the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, Virginia.

How wars end part II: the American Civil War

Jeb Sharp explores the lessons from the American Civil War that resonate with current events in Iraq.

How wars end part II: the American Civil War
A resident gestures as he talks to a U.S. soldier from 2nd Brigade combat team, 82nd Airborne on patrol in Baghdad's Adhamiya district January 5, 2008.

How wars end part I: Iraq

In the spring of 2003, for a brief moment, many Americans bought the idea, that the Iraq war was over. But why didn't the war end with the fall of Baghdad? And why were we programmed to think it might?

How wars end part I: Iraq