Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 16, 2017



Benjamin Bahney and Patrick B. Johnston, Foreign Affairs: ISIS Could Rise Again

What Its Last Resurrection Says About Its Future in Iraq and Syria

“The dream of a liberation is now a reality,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaimed last week, when his forces drove ISIS from a few final strongholds. Abadi’s declaration of victory did not seem unwarranted. After three years, Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, backed by an 80-country U.S.-led coalition, have reclaimed all of the territory ISIS once controlled in Iraq and the key cities it held in Syria. The Islamic State no longer has much of a claim to calling itself a state at all.

But the victory is incomplete—and not just when it comes to the challenges of ISIS-inspired lone-wolf attacks, foreign fighters returning home from Iraq and Syria, and the persistence of ISIS franchises elsewhere. While such concerns are real, a more dangerous scenario also deserves some attention: ISIS could resurrect its caliphate where it was born, in Iraq and Syria. It has been planning for such a resurrection since at least 2016, and quietly preparing since well before losing Raqqa in October.

Most ominously, ISIS has a tried-and-true playbook for bringing itself back from near death. Just a few years ago, it managed to resurrect itself after apparent defeat. And the history of that resurrection should serve as a warning of what may be coming now.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 16, 2017

The Syrian regime has made many gains this year, but it is too early to tell whether it's game over -- Hassan Hassan, The National

Russia’s military victory masks diplomatic impotence in Syria -- Julien Barnes-Dace, European Council On Foreign Affairs

4 Things the World Learned from North Korea in 2017 -- Robert E Kelly, National Interest

War With North Korea Appears More Imminent Than Ever -- Doug Bandow, American Conservative

Why China’s Internet Censorship Model Will Prevail Over Russia’s -- Valentin Weber, Council On Foreign Relations

Pakistan’s economic fortunes now in the hands of the IMF -- F.M. Shakil, Asia Times

Poland is the Saudi Arabia of NATO -- Washington Post

Europe's Leaders Watch Populism Rise -- Anne-Sylvaine Chassany & Guy Chazan, Financial Times

Vladimir Putin takes spotlight as Eurasia connector -- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times

Why Russia Punches Above Its Weight in Global Affairs -- Steven Metz, WPR

How Putin's proxies helped funnel millions into GOP campaigns -- Ruth May, Dallas News

Change Is Coming to Cuba -- Scott B. MacDonald, National Interest

Trump’s Security Strategy and the New Nuclear World -- Evan Moore, RCD

What Will ‘Actually Solve’ Terrorism Problem? -- James Kitfield, Breaking Defense

How the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers -- James L. Greenfield, Salon

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