... component, which is harder to counter. We know that ISIS has already chosen a new leader, and as often happens, when you eliminate the head, the person that comes after is usually even more of a risk. The main priority now is to resolve the issue for thousands of ISIS fighters and affiliates, as well as wives and children who are in prison camps in North-East Syria and Iraq. This is another domain where international cooperation will be necessary to ensure that the instability in these regions do not lead to an ISIS 2.0.
It is in this context that international actors need to learn the lesson of Iraq. Any ...
... in the Middle East or Pakistan, and sending them back to Europe to establish caliphates. The third phase of Jihadism, namely ISIS, held a post-millenarian perspective, as opposed to
Al Qaeda
which was pre-millenarian. By the same token, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi independently developed a form of jihad that was mostly sectarian. He was far more focused on killing Shias than ... ... Iraqi Sunnis (including former Baathists) who were antagonized and persecuted. With this support, they established a network in Syria and Iraq which eventually became the Caliphate.
The third phase of Jihadism did not take place on the stage of satellite ...
... how to cope with three recent developments that call for significant adjustments in the Russian strategy.
First, the defeat of ISIS, which is definitely a positive development for everybody engaged in Syria and in neighboring countries, has an important downside. Old regional rivalries, animosities, fears and conflicts that were ... ... two states; each of the parties tries to pull Moscow to its side of the conflict. The risks of alienating either Teheran or Jerusalem, or even both of them, are on the rise.
Finally, if Damascus finally has a complete military victory and regains control ...
... independence is a direct threat triggering internal movements inside of Turkey and Iran. Syria might also join the Turkish-Iranian camp cooperating against the KRG referendum... ... infrastructure through which crude is exported via Turkey to global markets. For the USA, it is not satisfied with the Turkish rapprochement with Moscow, and might use the... ... Moscow and Washington fear the current timing of independence poll, as the fight against ISIS is tensing and progressing. A crack between Baghdad and Erbil would badly alter...
... noted in “The End of History,” the end of the Cold War marked the end of thousands of years of ideological struggle, and the spread of Western Democratic capitalist... ... and did nothing to prevent the onset of the greatest global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression (barely managing to address it in time to prevent a... ... Since then, it has failed to effectively deal with conflict in Libya, Ukraine, and Syria, all within or near its periphery. The situation in Syria has led to refugee and...
... know how the organization started. There are two paths that led to the creation of ISIS: bin Laden and Zarqawi. Osama bin and his lieutenants created al-Qaeda at the end... ... jihadists in/going to Iraq, many of whom eventually followed Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi accepted al-Qaeda support but did not pledge himself to al-Qaeda... ... largely because many Iraqi Sunnis—particularly in Anbar province in western Iraq on Syria’s border—joined U.S. forces as allies fighting against the terrorist...
... positions/villages—part of a series of Russian bombings in recent days that have targeted Turkmen—on the border area of Turkey and Syria. Turkey is supporting these Turkmen rebels against Assad that Russia is bombing, and had previously asked Russia not to ... ... Iran, and Hezbollah and that Egypt’s own explosive and volatile domestic security situation with its own people and an ISIS franchise running amok in the Sinai (one which apparently was able to blow up a Russian airliner) will not be major liabilities....
... inflicting your lack of erudition on others.
To the militant pro-Snowden anti-NSA crusaders: I’m not going to tell you that what Snowden did had no positive effect;... ... solution to this is simply more use of force and would blame Obama for not invading Syria and Iraq today like Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, please, just go away and stop talking... ... Russia, in relation to the airliner attack) and maybe even by others if it turns out ISIS had something to do with it; Yemen could be a focus if the attack involves the...
... of your own people (Assad's government forces have killed more Syrians than ISIS by far); this may possibly help Russia gain more allies in the region and/or spark... ... is this:
Is 10% of Russian arm sales and the use of one or more military bases in Syria over the long term worth the risks of Russian intervention?
I am not sure if... ... operating). It’s not like all of Catholic Europe will be sending holy warriors in a crusade to fight Orthodox Russia’s attempts to annex the ethnic Russian, Orthodox...
A Sensible Grading of Obama’s Middle East Strategy: The Syrian Civil War
Grading Obama on what has—and has not—been done by his administration regarding the Syrian Civil ... ... Eastern conflicts, the civil war raging in Syria is currently the largest and deadliest. Here, as in other situations, we have a crisis in which we must be careful not to blame Obama too much but must also note the missed opportunities where his substantive ...
