Containing the Islamic State

Abstract

WHAT IS THE U.S. STRATEGY?Washington has not released a formal statement outlining its approach to confront IS. A broad strategy can be gleaned, however, from speeches and testimonies by senior officials, including President Barrack Obama, the secretaries of state and defense, and senior military commanders.The emerging strategy is based on

The EU and the Mideast Order: Ideology vs. Power Balancing

“…41 Together the measures had serious consequences for the regime in Teheran, probably contributing to Iran's emerging from its "strategic loneliness." 42 By accepting the JCPOA's conditions, Iran was on its way back to the international political scene, in the process bringing the Vienna meetings to a successful conclusion. The EU took part in the international sanctions regime against Iran, but it was also an important mediator during the negotiations.…”

Analysing security subcomplexes in a changing Middle East—the role of non-Arab state actors and non-state actors

“…Related to the complex role of the non-Arab states in the region, a number of important non-state actors are also influencing the recent turmoil in the Middle East. This is the case for well-known actors like Hezbollah and Hamas, but also for organizations that have more recently entered the political scene, like Islamic State (IS, or Da'esh) (Milton-Edwards, 2013;Juneau, 2015).…”

The containment of the Islamic State: A realist case to engage a hybrid actor

“…First, it points out why containment was successful to curb ISIS. Existing proposals of containment (e.g., Jordan & Rubin, 2016;Juneau, 2015;Staniland, 2017;Zakheim, 2014) rarely explicate why ISIS could be contained in the first place. However, an evaluation of containment is more than reconstructing a past strategy.…”

“…The actions taken against ISIS rely on a limited approach, focusing on military operations to recapture territory and prevent ISIS's territorial expansion (Jordan & Rubin, 2016;Juneau, 2015;Posen, 2015;Walt, 2015aWalt, , 2015bZakheim, 2014). These actions made sense as long as ISIS showed the limited characteristics that made other states and non-state adversaries containable.…”