Reality check

The global flashpoints the candidates will see

U.S. intelligence briefings for the two major party candidates, Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Donald Trump for the Republicans, are set to begin as early as this week. The overviews of national security issues facing the United States, a custom since the 1940s, will be provided by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr.

Subject matters likely to be addressed include the status of America’s ongoing wars, positions of governments such as China and Russia and bodies such as the Islamic State, and the state of cyberwarfare.

Locally, University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh have launched a biweekly series of video briefings on global topics called “What’s Up in the World?” (Sign up for email newsletter delivery at worldpittsburgh.org.) The first one will deal with America’s ongoing six wars in the Middle East and North Africa. The second will be on the Olympics, Brazil and the Zika virus.

The six U.S. wars are in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. They are of special interest because they involve at least 20,000 U.S. troops. Afghanistan started in 2001. U.S. strategy, so far largely unsuccessful despite the presence of 9,800 U.S. forces and 26,000 contractors there, is to prepare Afghan forces to defend the country against the Taliban and the Islamic State. The United States invaded Iraq most recently in 2003, and has 4,000 troops there, also trying to build national forces that can defend the country. The next step in Iraq is for forces of the Baghdad government to retake Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. The government attack is delayed for lack of preparedness and consequent improbability of success.

The Libya war began in 2011. Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown with U.S. support, but has been succeeded by three separate competing governments. The one recognized by the U.N. is holed up in Tripoli, with few prospects of asserting control over the whole country. America has had forces in and out of Somalia since 1992, with some 4,500 based in neighboring Djibouti, fighting in Somalia against an Islamic group, al-Shabab, which is as difficult to root out as crabgrass.

The Syrian civil war, with lots of international involvement, began in 2011. The Bashar Assad government is preparing to retake Aleppo, the country’s largest city. There are hundreds of U.S. Special Operations forces in Syria. In Yemen, a war that began in 2015, has the U.S. supporting some Sunni Muslim Yemenis — with the war on that side fought largely by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia — against Shiite Muslim Houthi Yemenis supported by other Sunni Yemeni forces. Its end is not in sight.

Ms. Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, has already met with three of the warring heads of state, Mohamed Magariaf of Libya, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud of Somalia and Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi of Yemen. Mr. Trump has likely not met with any of them yet, but will have that ahead of him if he wins.