Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

What the End of ISIS Means

| Oct. 23, 2017

Five questions to help understand what exactly America's latest Middle Eastern war has, and hasn’t, accomplished.

Unless you're someone who thinks beheading people is an appropriate way to advance a repressive political cause, the imminent demise of the Islamic State is welcome news. But we should be wary of a premature "Mission Accomplished" moment and be judicious in drawing lessons from an outcome that otherwise merits celebration.

Toward that end, here is a preliminary assessment of what the defeat of the Islamic State means, in the form of five questions and some provisional answers.

Want to Read More?

The full text of this publication is available via the original publication source.
Read Full Article
For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Walt, Stephen M.“What the End of ISIS Means.” Foreign Policy, October 23, 2017.

The Author

Stephen Walt

Stephen M. Walt

  • Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Faculty Affiliate, Future of Diplomacy Project
  • Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative
Expertise:
Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
Brittany Janis and Melissa Shapiro write about the "Exploring Arctic Sustainability" program which brought together nearly 20 Indigenous youth from Alaska, Canada, Mongolia, Norway, and Sweden for a week of climate leadership training and dialogue.
Calder Walton writes in this Times piece that China is conducting an espionage onslaught against Britain unlike that undertaken by Western governments themselves. "It is broad, deep, accelerating, and multi-domain," he says.
Energy economist Severin Borenstein in this conversation with Robert Stavins discussed the many significant challenges facing the nation’s electricity power sector in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice."
Most Viewed

Tags