Many will state that using American tax dollars to fund entrepreneurship and boost employment in MENA is not in the interest of the US public. However, it is important to note that in 2015 alone the US spent $6.2 billion dollars on military operations against ISIS. $1.46 trillion has been spent on Iraq, with the majority of this figure being spent from 2007-2008, in the surge to quash the extremist insurgency groups. While the surge did crush the power of the AQI, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) quickly took its place as soon as the US withdrew from Iraq. It is therefore obvious that exclusively military operations are not the way to effectively combat the problem of violent extremism taking hold in the MENA. The only sustainable
