April 15, 2016
Taking the Fight to "ISILSTAN": Displacing and Replacing ISIL in Eastern Syria and Western Iraq
More so than at any time in recent history, last month demonstrated the dichotomous nature of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) current situation. On the one hand, the horrific attacks in Brussels demonstrated ISIL’s capacity to recruit and train operatives in European Muslim communities and build a local network capable of carrying out high-consequence attacks. On the other hand, ISIL also suffered major losses in its proto-state as the Syrian city of Palmyra fell to the Assad regime.
At the Center for a New American Security, we have been undertaking a review of U.S. strategy toward ISIL. We have previously written about an overall framework for addressing the problem and addressed the Syrian civil war stretching from Dara’a in the south to Aleppo in the northwest. Now it is time to turn to how the United States can displace ISIL from the territory it controls in its nascent caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq.
Read the full article in War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
Deir Azzour Tribal Mapping Project
Reports
About Deir Azzour Syria’s Deir Azzour governorate encompasses the two most important remaining wilayat (provinces) of ISIS’ would-be caliphate, Wilayat al-Furat/Wilayat al-...
By Nicholas Heras, Bassam Barabandi & Nidal Betare
-
Is America Getting Sucked Into More War in Syria?
While Washington was fixated this week by former FBI director James Comey’s testimony, on the other side of the planet, a major story was playing out that could have profound ...
By Ilan Goldenberg & Nicholas Heras
-
A Strategy for Ending the Syrian Civil War
Reports
Executive Summary Tough talk notwithstanding, the Trump administration’s early actions in Iraq and Syria appear broadly consistent with the approach pursued by the Obama admin...
By Colin H. Kahl, Ilan Goldenberg & Nicholas Heras
-
Nicholas Heras on New Report, "Combating Al-Qaeda in Syria"
Podcast
By Nicholas Heras & JaRel Clay
