ISIS Will Remain a Challenge for Iraq after the Liberation of Mosul

As the final assault on the stronghold of the Islam­ic State (ISIS) in Mosul is in the works, important questions are going un­answered. Chief among them is: What will ISIS do in Iraq after Mosul falls?

Assad and Legitimacy Without Victory

The Assad regime has been in peril since the beginning of the Syrian revolution.

Cities, towns and entire governorates have been free of its authority for more than half a decade. It has lost control of great tracts of the country. And many people in areas no longer within its compass would do everything they could to avoid being ruled over by the regime ever again. They would fight back. Their recapture may be impossible, or at the very least inordinately costly.

Brexit Obsession and Foreign Policy

Leaving the European Union (EU) is beginning to get difficult. In recent weeks the prime minister has faced muted opposition in the House of Commons and active defiance in the Lords.

Battle for Mosul Shows a Retreating Caliphate

Recapturing eastern Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS) represents a notable achieve­ment for Iraq’s security forces. This presents a marked contrast to the disorder with which the Iraqi Army fought the sudden advance of ISIS in 2014. Then Iraq’s armed forces fell back and ISIS advanced to within 64 km of Baghdad.

Safe Zones and Illusory Promises

Donald Trump is not a humanitarian by nature. He is a hard-headed businessman, a guy for whom winning, in a notably zero-sum way, is all.

He wants the United States to win at the expense of everyone else – be it in trade or in war. Morally, the president says he will stop at nothing to achieve this ambition.

We Applauded the White Helmets at the Oscars – Now We Must Follow Their Example and Act

The tragedy of what has happened in Syria has spawned numerous artistic renderings. This is only fit and proper considering the historic nature of what has taken place there – the strength of revolutionary sentiment, the extreme violence of the regime’s initial crackdown on protests, the biblical refugee crisis which has now drawn in neighbouring countries and created desperate, wrenching scenes in the Mediterranean and in mainland Europe.

The Short-Sighted Popularity of the Kurdish Cause

For many years, Kurds in Iraq and across the Mid­dle East said they felt abandoned. Kurdish minorities were ill-treated in many countries, with their political ambitions repressed.