Answer to Question #244297 in Microeconomics for B. Smith

Question

Just as the U.S. strategic policy of containment (of Communism, in general, and the Soviet Union, in particular) gradually evolved just after World War II to win the Cold War in 1989, could a similar strategic policy of containment of radical Islam evolve after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to protect the non-Islamic world from fanatical extremism?

Answer 1

Solution:

Yes, the policy of containment strategy can be used to control and tame radical Islam to protect the non-Islamic world from fanatical extremism.

Radical Islam, like communism, is an ideology with a worldwide reach and will require a firm and patient opposition. Containing radical Islam requires a worldwide strategy like containment. It requires counterforce at a series of constantly shifting worldwide points. A containment policy is a policy that finds a middle path or common ground. It is not rash and reckless and it is reluctant and restrained by Constitutional checks and balances and does not appease. Containment recognizes the danger of radical Islam including the weaknesses of radical Islam. It understands the distinction between critical and peripheral interests.

The policies of containment can halt the expansion of radical Islam territorial strongholds. Radical Islam can be contained if containment addresses the Islamic State’s hybrid nature rather than frantically looking for the transferability of past containment aspects. It mainly requires a focus on the struggle for power of the opponent and a foreign policy of restraint.