South Caucasus could play crucial role in defeating ISIS

As the United States seeks a stronghold in the fight against international terrorism 13 years after 9/11, the complexities of safeguarding global security and peace become all the more apparent. Today, as ISIS destabilizes Iraq and Syria, internal strife engulfs North Africa, and Boko Haram wages nefarious attacks in Nigeria and beyond, the world remains a dangerous place. Yet this atmosphere of worldwide conflict is just the beginning of Washington’s worries. Caught in a tailspin after a decade of neglecting its allies in unstable regions integral to global security, Washington must now pause to get its bearings and swiftly identify and bolster support for reliable partners that can facilitate the demise of terrorism. Should the United States fail to do so, it will risk another protracted battle against an uncertain, hostile enemy.

The U.S. security dilemma today is perhaps best evidenced by the challenges that Washington faces in eradicating the newly revamped ISIS movement, which has gained ground at a sensitive time for the Obama administration. Accused of unpreparedness in foreign policy and of failing to introduce proper mechanisms to prevent the destabilization of Ukraine, the U.S. administration has managed to lose the faith of many a steadfast partner. Yet while some pundits today might find reason to debate the need to protect a country such as Ukraine on Europe’s fringes, the importance of ensuring stability in the Middle East given its critical role in world security has never been the subject of question. This is precisely why President Obama outlined in a speech on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11 a new strategy to establish a broad coalition to take down ISIS by way of systematic airstrike campaigns, humanitarian missions, supporting forces fighting terrorists on the ground, and redoubling global efforts to cut off its funding.

{mosads}However, eradicating this “cancer,” as the president stated, is a long process, and one that cannot be accomplished without the right partners in a region where long-term allies are few and far between.

Given the unstable political landscape in the Middle East, the United States must once again return to the offense in the war on terror, as former Vice President Dick Cheney noted at the American Enterprise Institute on Sept. 10, 2014, proceed to develop command centers and lines of communication, and provide more military trainers, special operations forces, and intelligence architecture to assist the Iraqi military. As part of this process, the United States must begin to forge stronger coalitions with trusted regional allies. Indeed, the U.S. administration would reap tremendous benefits from revisiting its military relations with the South Caucasus, and particularly with Georgia and Azerbaijan, which have traditionally supported the U.S. counterterrorist efforts. In close proximity to Iraq and Syria, yet stable politically and economically, both countries remain progressive in foreign policy and Western-oriented in character. While former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a close friend of U.S. leader George W. Bush, earned world-renown for eradicating corruption and facilitating democratic development, Azerbaijan has become a poster child for macroeconomic stability thanks to its role in international energy projects, despite a ravaging war in the 1990s resulting in the loss of 20 percent of its territory.  

By advancing its historical partnerships with Georgia and Azerbaijan, the United States should seek to grow its regional security infrastructure and gain operational assistance from these allies at a time when ISIS has expanded nearer to the South Caucasus with its recent conquest of Mosul in northwestern Iraq.

The urgency of Washington’s need to bolster military cooperation with Georgia and Azerbaijan is chiefly due to the weak postwar security capacity of Iraq’s armed forces, which have proved unable to counter ISIS despite having significantly more resources. These partners would also help to reduce the economic costs of U.S. military efforts, which are bound to incur the scrutiny of a war-weary U.S. public. Failure to tackle ISIS at this critical juncture could well result in the collapse of other countries in the Middle East.

Georgia has long been a vocal proponent of U.S. values and a strategic partner in defense, providing one of the largest contingents of soldiers to the Iraq war effort and more troops to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan than any other non-NATO country. In a recent bid to improve U.S. ties with Georgia, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited Tbilisi after the NATO Summit in Wales, where member-countries promised Georgia new cooperation mechanisms such as NATO exercises and a NATO training facility in the country, a decisive step toward reinforcing cooperation. Hegel’s agenda in Georgia included a discussion of the country’s plans to buy U.S. military helicopters and the prospects of Georgia joining a future U.S.-led coalition to fight ISIS. Now, Washington should look to more concretely design an action plan with this South Caucasus country to boost military collaboration to target this threat.

At the same time, Azerbaijan has built its past, present and future on a balanced foreign policy with a determinedly Western orientation. Having taken enormous risks to ensure stability, neutrality and EU energy security against all odds, Azerbaijan signed a contract with an international energy consortium in 1994 that resulted in the launch of two mammoth pipelines. A secular state open to global partnerships, Azerbaijan is well positioned to assist in defending U.S. interests in the Middle East. Much like Georgia, it shares a history of military cooperation with the United States, having contributed to counterterrorist efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by providing air space, sharing information, and prosecuting terrorists.

The ISIS movement, which expanded mainly in the aftermath of the Iraq war, is generally considered a continuation of Al-Qaeda. Today, it is rapidly garnering influence in the Middle East as a result of the instability in Syria and Iraq. Determined to build an independent Islamic state bridging these countries, ISIS poses a dangerous threat to regional and international security. With some analysts claiming that ISIS now controls 11,000 square miles of territory in the region, ISIS is a sober reminder that the war on terror not only continues, but requires cohesive action. On this backdrop, the support of Georgia and Azerbaijan might once more prove essential to establishing a more robust global security system.

Meladze is the director of the Ilia State University Center for Constitutional Studies and the executive director of the Liberty Institute, a libertarian think-tank in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Liberty Institute played a core role in Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003 and in executing democratic reforms.