Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy
What Should We Do if the Islamic State Wins?
Live with it.
It's time to ponder a troubling possibility: What should we do if the Islamic State wins? By "wins," I don’t mean it spreads like wildfire throughout the Muslim world, eventually establishing a caliphate from Baghdad to Rabat and beyond. That's what its leaders say they are going to do, but revolutionary ambitions are not reality and that possibility is particularly far-fetched. Rather, an Islamic State victory would mean that the group retained power in the areas it now controls and successfully defied outside efforts to "degrade and destroy" it. So the question is: What do we do if the Islamic State becomes a real state and demonstrates real staying power?
That possibility is looking more likely these days, given Baghdad's inability to mount a successful counteroffensive....
Continue reading (log in may be required): http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/10/what-should-we-do-if-isis-islamic-state-wins-containment/
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Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:
Walt, Stephen M..“What Should We Do if the Islamic State Wins?.” Foreign Policy, June 10, 2015.
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Live with it.
It's time to ponder a troubling possibility: What should we do if the Islamic State wins? By "wins," I don’t mean it spreads like wildfire throughout the Muslim world, eventually establishing a caliphate from Baghdad to Rabat and beyond. That's what its leaders say they are going to do, but revolutionary ambitions are not reality and that possibility is particularly far-fetched. Rather, an Islamic State victory would mean that the group retained power in the areas it now controls and successfully defied outside efforts to "degrade and destroy" it. So the question is: What do we do if the Islamic State becomes a real state and demonstrates real staying power?
That possibility is looking more likely these days, given Baghdad's inability to mount a successful counteroffensive....
Continue reading (log in may be required): http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/10/what-should-we-do-if-isis-islamic-state-wins-containment/
- Recommended
- In the Spotlight
- Most Viewed
Recommended
Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy
The United States Has Less Leverage Over Israel Than You Think
Journal Article - International Security
A “Nuclear Umbrella” for Ukraine? Precedents and Possibilities for Postwar European Security
Journal Article - International Security
We All Fall Down: The Dismantling of the Warsaw Pact and the End of the Cold War in Eastern Europe
In the Spotlight
Most Viewed
Analysis & Opinions - Harvard Business Review
Intelligence Vendor Checklist
Press Release - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Barham A. Salih Joins Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School as Senior Fellow
Analysis & Opinions - New Straits Times
Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War