... Interests Does the Caliphate Serve?
What is the Islamic State movement and who supports the establishment of a caliphate and Caliph Ibrahim in the 21st century, calling all Muslims in the world to submit to it and join the jihad? What challenges are Syria and Iraq facing amidst terrorist attacks by the Islamic State and aerial bombing by the United States and its NATO allies? The American tactic of fighting militants from the self-proclaimed caliphate appears unlikely to be effective. Given the abundance ...
... Pimodan
(Author based in the Middle East)
Al Baghdadi's major strategic failure has been his choice of the Fertile Crescent as the region for the establishment of his Khilafa. His dream of reestablishing a Sunni caliphate with roots in Iraq and Syria will eventually be crushed by the field's realities and only exposes his own lack of knowledge about the region. Not that a Sunni leadership would be impossible to carry on the lands of the ancient Omayyad and Abbasid's caliphates,...
... Afghanistan. This is not just a franchise, like al-Qaeda.
Another disturbing though expected twist is IS’ intention, declared on Sept. 22, to carry out terrorist acts outside the states that have been its theater of operations until now, namely Iraq and Syria. According to Charles Lister, "Islamic State’s advances across Iraq and its expansion in northern and eastern Syria have placed it in control of territory stretching at least 680 kilometers (423 miles). Its focus on controlling resources ...
Interview with Vitaly Naumkin
The frantic activity of the Islamic State and the growing number supporters of extremist actions are causing alarm and anxiety in the West. The unabated conflict in Syria and fragile internal situation in Iraq are creating fertile ground for a strengthening in the position of the Islamic State. What will the West, particularly the United States, do next? Will the current alliances in the Middle East undergo any changes?...
... news of this year. International community seems to fail with generating new efficient ideas how to deal with this ordeal.
The IS is spreading steadily its influence and is gaining support among people.
Countries at stake: fragile Iraq and turbulent Syria. Is the USA again at war with terrorist?
RIAC has gathered opinions from renowned foreign experts.
Dr Sohail Mahmood: The sudden rise of the IS was treated as a good omen by radical Islamists over the world
Associate Dean & Head, Department of ...
As events in Syria have been unfolding, a remark made several years ago by King Abdullah of Jordan sticks in my mind. Abdullah, an intelligent, enlightened monarch like his father King Hussein, was explaining why he was optimistic about the future of the Arab world....
The military successes of the Islamic State (IS); the possibility of the ‘jihadist cancer’ spreading to Iraq and Syria’s neighboring countries; the uncertainty of the situation in and around Syria; the growth of internal tensions in a number of countries in the Arab Mashreq; the high level of violence and cruelty; the unresolved Palestinian issue; the interfaith ...
... latter unites in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) — as well as with non-Arab regional players such as Iran, Turkey and Israel.
Moscow has long tried to draw the attention of its foreign partners to the need to combat terrorist groups in Syria, which have now turned into the main force leading the fight against government forces in the country. Russia has expressed its full support for Iraq in its fight against IS, and very quickly took the decision to supply the first batch of Su-25 ...
... Jordan has 60 F-16s, as well as 25 Cobra attack helicopters."
IS militants, however, are no fools. According to our sources in Erbil, IS has already started to hunt for airplanes, helicopters and drones, while trying to seize airfields in Iraq and Syria. In addition, they have announced the creation of a squadron of pilots, engineers and technicians from those Sunni-Arab ex-servicemen who defected from the Iraqi air force, and are even looking for possible recruits in Europe. What if they will ...
... another political earthquake, raising the possibility of another Afghanistan located right in the heart of the Middle East. Within just a very small number of days, the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), known in Iraq and Syria for appalling atrocities and militant fanaticism, was able to occupy the two-million person city of Mosul, the second largest in Iraq, and vowed to march victoriously on Baghdad.
As of writing, the ISIL fully or partially controls Nineveh, Samarra ...
