... and the political vacuum that followed to Iran’s growing influence in the region.
Islamic State occupies leading positions in the global jihad movement today due to a number of internal and external factors. However, recent developments on the Syrian front, where Islamic State is conquering territories controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra and
other Islamic groups
, the outbreak of armed confrontation between supporters of the Caliphate and the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as the intensified conflict between Abu Bakr ...
... continues to keep a fragile ethnic and confessional balance, albeit with varying degrees of success. Having survived the Arab Spring, Lebanese society is now being confronted with the difficult task of resisting jihadists both from the outside (the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front) and from the inside, amidst unstable legislative and executive branches and a dire humanitarian situation caused by economic difficulties and the influx of Syrian refugees.
The Lebanese army and weapons to Lebanon
The position of Lebanese authorities on the strategy to combat ISIS has been formed in response to real threats to Lebanon. It is based on the country’s own assessment of developments in ...
... least from the start of the Iran–Iraq war in 1980. Only the protagonists change (with the exception of Iraq itself). The new force is the Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group that sprang up in Iraq and achieved success in the civil war in Syria, success that enabled it to reformat itself, expand and get a new name – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) – and make a triumphant return to Iraq. During a lightning offensive in the summer of 2014, ISIS instantly occupied much of Northern Iraq. Within a matter of days, it had captured Mosul and Tikrit and ...
... recent events in Ukraine could merely remain a favorable opportunity for NATO bureaucrats to pretend the alliance still matters, whereby the renewed Russian military doctrine is not that bad. NATO is the number one threat. Anyone surprised?
2. Shall the Islamic State survive?
Undoubtedly, the Islamic State is not just a 'so-called' state. It is not just another hit-and-run bunch of fanatics pretending to be 'biggest and baddest dudes on the block'. Recruitment of new jihadi ...
... money apparently attracts adventurers and soldiers of fortune even from distant countries.
Reactions to the Reincarnation of the Caliphate
REUTERS/Ako Rasheed
Vitaly Naumkin:
Islamic State: Steady Progress in the Middle
East?
Since the appearance of the Islamic state jihadists in Syria in 2013, the official government identifies the organization as a force that poses the most serious threat to the national interests of the Syrian Arab Republic. This is due not only to the fact that the militants of the Islamic State are calling ...
... Obama in his address to the UN General Assembly noted that 40 nations had offered to join this coalition. In fact, very few of these 40 are really involved in the fight, if not the war with the Islamic State.
Despite the fact that the coalition and Syria are both interested in opposing the Islamic State, the United States and its allies continue to regard Bashar al-Assad’s regime as unacceptable and want to overthrow it.
Vitaly Naumkin
The international community should unite its efforts not only in the fight against the Islamic ...
... Preston University, Islamabad
War against the "Islamic State"?
Sohail Mahmood
The current position of the USA toward the Islamic State (IS) does not necessarily mean the launching of a new round of war on terror. The USA is opposing the IS but will ... ... advancement. Britain and Saudi Arabia will be the major allies but their assistance won’t matter much in all reality.
Syrian crisis
Given assistance of Iran and Russia, Assad will likely remain in power for some time. Eventually, Assad will be ...
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 ...
... useful domestic resource mobilization as a result of Western sanctions) — the importance of the Middle East will only continue to grow. This concerns Russia’s relations with the Arab world — as the 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 ...
... 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 ... ... for possible recruits in Europe. What if they will be able to create their own air force? And even their own air defenses?
The Islamic State's strengths are the presence in its ranks of experienced commanders from the former Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein,...
