Aftandilian in BU Today on Trump’s Syria Decisions
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was recently interviewed on United States President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria and its impact on the future of ISIS.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “Long Term, Trump’s Syrian Withdrawal Could Endanger US, BU Expert Says,” was published in BU Today on October 28, 2019.
From the text of the article:
But few offered any ideas for mitigating the damage. BU Today spoke with Gregory Aftandilian, lecturer at BU’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, about the situation and his thoughts on how the US should proceed. He wrote a column for the Arab Weekly condemning the president’s “impulsivity and disdain” for consulting with his own government experts. “Trump made this withdrawal decision immediately after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who apparently convinced him that Turkey needed to clear this area of ‘terrorists,’” as the Turks deem the Kurds.
A two-decade veteran of US government service, Aftandilian was a congressional foreign policy adviser and staffer, including for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and for the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
Gregory Aftandilian, a consultant, scholar, and lecturer, is an adjunct faculty member at Boston University and American University. He is also an associate of the Middle East Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a Senior Fellow for the Middle East at the Center for National Policy in Washington, D.C. He 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).