"The liberation of Mosul and the inevitable, approaching liberation of Raqqa in Syria will not be the end of the Islamic State and its evil ideology. But they crush the group’s pretense to having an actual “state” based upon it. As its surviving leaders scurry to the corners of the desert, no longer can they claim to head a winning movement. Their defeat diminishes the inspiration for violent extremists, or simply lost souls on social media, to attack Americans and our friends. This is a necessary step forward in combating terrorism. Americans are safer for it."
China
North Korea
Russia
Featured Experts
Simon Saradzhyan
Director, Russia Matters Project; Assistant Director, U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
Director, Intelligence and Defense Project; Director, Project on Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council Security
Lawrence Summers
Charles W. Eliot University Professor; Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Kevin Ryan
Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Member, The US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism