TERRORISM: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - "ISIL"
(a/k/a Islamic State of Iraq & Syria - "ISIS")
(a/k/a "Daesh" for
al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham)
Suggested research and readings
Questions for Feb 27, 2015 discussion:
Additional questions for Oct 3, 2014 ISIL discussion:
b. greater Syria
Here are some questions for the ISIL discussion on Sept 26, 2014 (they may well lead to others in the course of your reading):
- Who is (are?) ISIL?
- Number of fighters, governed population?
- What motivates them?
- Successful? Why? How measured?
- Weaknesses of Arab states, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, What are they?
- What should US policy be?
- Grand policy or drawn to specific countries?
- Why is US media doing propaganda for ISIL?
- Who is Graeme Wood?
- Who are Graham Fuller and Juan Cole and what do they think?
- Projected endgame?
- Any other questions that occur to you.
Additional questions for Oct 3, 2014 ISIL discussion:
- First, review two older political solutions:
b. greater Syria
- What are their implications?
- What would be the downside of dividing Iraq into three national states?
- Why are the borders of Jordan and Iraq drawn straight across the desert?
- Damascus is a very ancient city. What is its major function?
- Who are the Syrians?
Here are some questions for the ISIL discussion on Sept 26, 2014 (they may well lead to others in the course of your reading):
- What grew ISIL?
- Who is ISIL?
- Where did these barbarians come from?
- What is driving them?
- How do they make their money?C
- Can you find links between ISIL and Boko Haram, Yemen, Somalia?
- How important is the terrible drought in Syria?
- What would that argument look like?
- Do you find the concept of "governance" relevant in this case? (check out the Frontline documentary, "Hunting Boko Haram," from 9 Sept 2014)
- Have our media panicked because of the beheadings or ISIL headlong success?
- How is ISIL dangerous to us, US interests?
- What is mission of Jordanian Army, Saudi national guard?
- What is Saudi role vis a vis Syria and the salafis and jihadis?
- How sound is US diagnosis of ISIL threat and methods? (check out Rami Khouri for a look from the area)
- Do you see a role for Israel, Iran, Turkey?
Look up the Battle of Gaugamela (or Arbella), as ISIL has made that place come again into focus on the world stage. It was the place in Mesopotamia where Alexander the Great defeated Darius and ended that Persian Empire back BCE. Arbella has morphed into Erbil today. ~ Ed Knox
Proposed Partition of Iraq
Articles
- "We Once Fought Jihadists. Now We Battle White Supremacists." by Max Rose and Ali H. Soufan in "The New York Times," Feb 11, 2020
- "Is ISIS Better Off Without Baghdadi?" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Nov 20, 2019
- "The (Newly Urgent) Case for Bringing Terrorists Home" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Oct 31, 2019
- "Baghdadi’s Legacy: Violence as a Meme" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Oct 31, 2019
- "How Important Was Baghdadi?" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Oct 29, 2019
- "Laying the ‘Islamist’ bogeyman to rest" by Andreas Krieg on "Lobe Log," Oct 10, 2019
- "A Perfect Storm for an ISIS Comeback?" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Oct 8, 2019
- "ISIS’s Tenuous Inroads in Southeast Asia" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Sept 27, 2019
- "When Is an Enemy Combatant No Longer an Enemy Combatant?" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," June 12, 2019
- "Islamic State expands reach in Afghanistan, threatening West" by Kathy Gannon (AP) on "ABC News," June 10, 2019
- "Baghdadi’s Alive, And So Is Islamic State’s Narrative" by Giorgio Cafiero by James Zogby on "Lobe Log," May 8, 2019
- "Sri Lanka Attacks: Hometown of Accused Mastermind Was Fertile Ground for Extremism" by Hannah Beech in "The New York Times," April 28, 2019
- "Why an 'Unwinnable' War Could Still Be Worth Fighting" by Michael Gerson on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Oct 23, 2018
- "Axios AM: Mike's Top 10" by Mike Allen on "Axios," Aug 4, 2018
- "The Spy Who Came Home" by Ben Taub in "The New Yorker," May 7, 2018
- "American Crusade: The War on Terror and the Ruins of the Middle East" by James Carroll on "Informed Comment," March 10, 2018
- "The Lingering Dream of an Islamic State" by Azadeh Moaveni in "The New York Times," Jan 12, 2018
- "Iran-Backed Iraqi Groups Threaten Violence Following U.S. Terrorism Bill" by Ahmad Majidyar on "Middle East Institute," Dec 6, 2017
- "U.S. moves toward open-ended presence in Syria after Islamic state is routed" by Karen DeYoung & Liz Sly in "The Washington Post," Nov 22, 2017
- "The Cancer of Islamist Extremism Spreads Around the World" by Fareed Zakaria on "fareedzakaria.com," Nov 2, 2017
- "Hezbollah-Islamic State Deal Divides Iraqi Leaders" by Ahmad Majidyar in Middle East Institute's "IranObserved Weekly Brief," Sept 6, 2017
- "Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Says It Has Eliminated 100 Terrorist Groups inside Country" by Ahmad Majidyar in Middle East Institute's "IranObserved Weekly Brief," Aug 29, 2017
- "Lebanese Army Earns Praise for Fight against ISIS" by Bilal Y. Saab on "Middle East Institute Monday Briefing," Aug 28, 2017
- "Europe under threat from terrorists posing as migrants" by Bel Trew & Tom Kington in "The Times," Aug 23, 2017
- "Was Emir Tamim’s Speech a Turning Point in the Qatar Crisis?" by Giorgio Cafiero on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," July 25, 2017
- "Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals" by Mark Landler & James Risen in "The New York Times," July 25, 2017
- "The Hidden Costs of 'National Security'” by William D. Hartung on "TomDispatch.com," July 25, 2017
- "The CIA is Entering a Danger Zone. Here's the Map" by David Ignatius in "The Washington Post," July 25, 2017
- "For China's Global Ambitions, 'Iran Is at the Center of Everything'" by Thomas Erdbrink in "The New York Times," July 25, 2017
- "U.S. Absent as Israel-Palestine Violence Escalates" by Eran Etzion on "Middle East Institute Monday Briefing," July 24, 2017
- "Erdogan Visits Gulf to Resolve Crisis" by W. Robert Pearson on "Middle East Institute Monday Briefing," July 24, 2017
- "Al-Qaeda Takeover of Idlib Tests Turkey" by Charles Lister on "Middle East Institute Monday Briefing," July 24, 2017
- "Saudi Arabia: Good News and Troubling News On Terrorism" by Thomas W. Lippman on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," July 24, 2017
- "Islamic State claims new reach into Iran with twin attacks in Tehran" by Brian Murphy & Kareem Fahim in "The Washington Post," June 7, 2017
- "What Obsessing About You-Know-Who Causes Us To Miss" by Andrew Bacevich on "LobeLog Foreign Policy, May 8, 2017
- "Fearmongering at Homeland Security" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," April 21, 2017
- "Why is Trump Fighting ISIS in Syria?" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," April 12, 2017
- "Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Islam’s Most Eloquent Apostate" by Tunku Varadarajan in "The Wall Street Journal," April 7, 2017
- "Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps" from "BBC News," April 7, 2017
- "Saudi Arabia the Next Stop on China’s Maritime Silk Road" on "The News Lens," March 23, 2017
- "Two Glimpses of a Grim Post-American Future" by David Frum in "The Atlantic," March 22, 2017
- "U.S. and the Middle East: Power politics or amateur hour?" by Michael J. Brenner on "Salon," March 22, 2017
- "History’s Guide to Contested Liberalism" by A. Bradley Potter on "War on the Rocks," March 22, 2017
- "Calling On a Few Good Men" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," March 22, 2017
- "Israel plans mass evacuation if Islamic militants go to war with them" by Ian Deitch in "Chicago Tribune," March 21, 2017
- "Anti-ISIS Summit in D.C" by Charles Lister on "Middle East Institute: Monday Briefing," March 20, 2017
- "Slower May Be Better in Going at ISIS" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Feb 24, 2017
- "When We Really Did Fear a Bowling Green Massacre" by A.C. Thompson in "The New York Times," Feb 8, 2017
- "Trump’s Wrong on non-Coverage; But, Top 6 things actually Wrong with Terrorism Reporting" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 7, 2017
- "Turkey: The Crucial Anti-ISIS Ally That Trump … Forgot?" by Roy Gutman on "The Daily Beast," Feb 2, 2017
- the War on Terror" by Robin Wright in "The New Yorker," Jan 25, 2017
- "Obama Hoped to Transform the World. It Transformed Him." by Adam Shatz in "The New York Times," Jan 12, 2017
- "The Middle East in the Year Ahead" by various authors on "Middle East Institute," Jan 5, 2017 (includes pieces on Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudia Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the "War on Terror")
- "Top Eight Mideast Stories of 2016 that Shaped our World" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Dec 31, 2016
- "Erdogan-Putin Syria Bromance as Turkey accuses US of backing ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Dec 28, 2016
- "ISIS: A catastrophe for Sunnis" by Liz Sly in "The Washington Post," Nov 23, 2016
- "Trump should embrace ‘dual conciliation’ abroad" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Nov 23, 2016
- "Deputy NSC Advisor Pick McFarland: Treat Middle Easterners Like Kids" by Derek Davison on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Nov 25, 2016
- "Is Lt.-Gen. Flynn Right that Islam is not a Religion?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Nov 20, 2016
- "Turkey: the road towards dictatorship and the west’s responsibility" by Mehmet Ugur on "Informed Comment," Nov 6, 2016
- "Chechnya’s New Contract With the Kremlin" by Vadim Dubnov on "Carnegie Moscow Center," Oct 27, 2016
- "It’s Difficult to Keep Allies in Line In the Post-Ideological Era" by Shireen T. Hunter on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Oct 27, 2016
- "Why the Middle East knows not to trust the United States" by David Ignatius in "The Washington Post," Oct 25, 2016
- "The Islamic State After Mosul" by Hassan Hassan in "The New York Times," Oct 24, 2016
- "Turkey Barges Into the Mosul Fight" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," Oct 24, 2016
- "Awaiting Next U.S. President: A Splintered Middle East in 'Free Fall'" by Peter Baker in "The New York Times," Oct 24, 2016
- "Turkey's Push to Join Battle for Mosul Inflames Tension with Iraq" by Tim Arango & Michael R. Gordon in "The New York Times," Oct 23, 2016
- "Turkey After July 15 - Dawn or Disaster?" by W. Robert Pearson on "Middle East Institute," Oct 17, 2016
- "Why Surprise Attacks Won't Defeat the Islamic State" by Fareed Zakaria on "FareedZakaria.com," Oct 20, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Huge Humanitarian Challenges in Mosul" by Randa Slim on "Middle East Institute," Oct 17, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Turkey-Iraq Row Complicates Mosul Operation" by Gonul Tol on "Middle East Institute," Oct 17, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: ISIS Loses Dabiq" by Charles Lister on "Middle East Institute," Oct 17, 2016
- "No End to Syria’s Agony in Sight?" by Peter Jenkins, Sergey Batsanov & James Watt on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Oct 1, 2016
- "Trump’s Pro-ISIS Foreign Policy" by Fawaz A. Gerges on "Informed Comment," Sept 25, 2016
- "His Grip Still Secure, Bashar al-Assad Smiles as Syria Burns" by Ben Hubbard in "The New York Times," Sept 17, 2016
- "Facing Water Challenges in the Middle East" by Aysegul Kibaroglu on "Middle East Institute, Sept 14, 2016
- "How Many Guns Did the U.S. Lose Track of in Iraq and Afghanistan? Hundreds of Thousands." by C.J. Chivers in "The New York Times Magazine," Aug 24, 2016
- "America's Mr. Diplomacy" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," Sept 14, 2016
- "Let Us Rid the World of Wahhabism" by Mohammed Javad Zarif in "The New York Times," Sept 13, 2016
- "Turkey Uses Post-Coup Emergency Decrees to Purge Mayors and Teachers" by Ceylan Yeginsu in "The New York Times," Sept 9, 2016
- "The free-for-all in Syria will make your head spin" by Richard Allen Greene on "CNN," Aug 25, 2016
- "After 9/11, We Thought It Would Be a Generation-Long Struggle; We Were Wrong" by Richard Clarke on "ABC News," Sept 8, 2016
- "US: Turkish-backed campaign against our Allies in Syria ‘unacceptable’" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Aug 30, 2016
- "America’s Syria SNAFU: Pentagon’s Militias fight Turkey & CIA’s Militias" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Aug 28, 2016
- "Is Turkey’s incursion into Syria about Daesh, or about the Kurds?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Aug 25, 2016
- "Russian Realism in the Middle East" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Aug 20, 2016
- "Dragon Rising? China seeks Closer military Cooperation with Syria" by Juan Cole
- "Monsters to Destroy: Top 7 Reasons the US could not have forestalled Syrian Civil War" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Aug 12, 2016
- "Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart" by Scott Anderson with photos by Paolo Pellegrin in "The New York Times," Aug 11, 2016
- "What Russia and Turkey Bring to Syria" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," Aug 11, 2016
- "What If Saudi Arabia Collapses?" by Theodore Karasik and Joseph Cozza on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Aug 10, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Erdogan Reaching Out to Russia; Update on Battle for Aleppo" by W. Robert Pearson, Alex Vatanka, Charles Lister, Marvin G. Weinbaum & Mabrouka M'Barek on "Middle East Institute," Aug 8, 2016
- "How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers" by Rukmini Callimachi in "The New York Times," Aug 3, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Turkey's Post-Coup Military Restructuring and US-Russia Meeting in Geneva on Syria Coordination" by Gönül Tol & Randa Slim on "Middle East Institute," July 25, 2016
- "The Foreign Policy Implications of Turkey’s Attempted Coup" by Derek Davison on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," July 19, 2016
- "Inside ISIS: Quietly preparing for the loss of the ‘caliphate’" by Joby Warrick & Souad Mekhennet in "The Washington Post," July 12, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Chilcot Report, French FM in Lebanon, Iran Economy" by Daniel Serwer, Alex Vatanka on Paul Salem at "Middle East Institute," July 11, 2016
- "A century on: Why Arabs resent Sykes-Picot" on "aljazeera.com" [undated]
- "Saudi Arabia, Blamed for Spawning Jihadists, Is Again Their Target" by Ben Hubbard in "The New York Times," July 6, 2016
- "ISIS Has Lost Many of the Key Places It Once Controlled" by Sarah Almukhtar, Tim Wallace & Derek Watkins in "The New York Times," July 3, 2016
- "Is the Mideast disintegrating or just being Auctioned Off?" by Patrick Cockburn on "Informed Comment," June 29, 2016
- "The World Reaps What the Saudis Sow" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," May 27, 2016
- "Behind the Barricades of Turkey's Hidden War" by Robert F. Worth in "The New York Times Magazine," May 24, 2016
- "Architects of Failure: 100 years of Sykes-Picot" by Akil N. Awan on "Informed Comment," May 17, 2016
- "The Biggest threat to the Mideast isn’t ISIL, it’s bad, Corrupt Governance" by Marwan Muasher on "Informed Comment," May 16, 2016
- "The Failures of Success" by Fareed Zakaria on "FareedZakaria.com," May 12, 2016
- "Losing the war on jihadism" by Christina Pazzanese in "Harvard Gazette," May 4, 2016
- "How the Curse of Sykes-Picot Still Haunts the Middle East" by Robin Wright in "The New Yorker," April 30, 2016
- "The Future of the Mideast: A decentralized, Networked Pan-Arabism transcending Sykes-Picot?" by Parag Khanna on "Informed Comment," April 22, 2016
- "The Children's Crusade" by John Feffer on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," April 13, 2016
- "The Islamic State is Losing: Now Comes the Hard Part" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," April 7, 2016
- "Mr. Erdogan Goes to Washington" by Derek Davison on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," April 1, 2016
- "When the Necessary Is Impossible" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," March 30, 2016
- "On the American Front Line Against ISIS" by Robin Wright in "The New Yorker," March 29, 2016
- "What would effective Counter-Terrorism look like after Brussels?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," March 27, 2016
- "How not to talk About Muslims After a Fringe Terrorist group attacks" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," March 23, 2016
- "The Islamic State and Endlessly Expanding War" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," March 22, 2016
- "Randa Slim on Russia’s Decision to Partially Withdraw from Syria" by Randa Slim & Antoun Issa on "Middle East Institute," March 14, 2016
- "Where did ISIS come from? The story starts here." by Neil Swidey in "The Boston Globe Magazine," March 10, 2016
- "Obama Criticizes the 'Free Riders' Among America's Allies" by Mark Landler in "The New York Times," March 10, 2016
- "A Truce in Syria" by Dexter Filkins in "The New Yorker," March 7, 2016
- "Building on the Syrian Truce" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," March 1, 2016
- "US Says Mosul Dam faces serious risk of Collapse; Could Kill 1.4 Million" by TeleSur on "Informed Comment," March 1, 2016
- "Syrian Ceasefire: A Signal that Russia is winning the War?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 27, 2016
- "Andrew Bacevich, How to Avert Real Change in Election 2016" by Tom Engelhardt on "TomDispatch," Jan 26, 2016 (introduction to "Out of Bounds, Off-Limits, or Just Plain Ignored: Out of Bounds, Off-Limits, or Just Plain Ignored: Six National Security Questions Hillary, Donald, Ted, Marco, et al., Don’t Want to Answer and Won’t Even Be Asked" by Andrew J. Bacevich)
- "Kerry warns of break up of Syria; but is that Realistic?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 25, 2016
- "Will Syrian Kurds defeat ISIL , helping Democrats win White House in 2016?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 20, 2016
- "The media are misleading the public on Syria" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Feb 18, 2016
- "Why Saudi Arabia is behaving like a cornered boxer" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Feb 3, 2016
- "Syria: Instead of a Cease-Fire, have Great Powers unleashed new Proxy Wars?" by Baher Kamal on "Informed Comment," Feb 17, 2016
- "Whack-a-Terrorist in Libya" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Feb 16, 2016
- "As Syria Devolves Further, Allies Criticize American Policy" by Ceylan Yeginsu in "The New York Times," Feb 10, 2016
- "Erdogan Threatened Europe with Refugees, now Demanding US abandon Syrian Kurds" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 9, 2016
- "Israel frets about “Iran as Neighbor” if Aleppo falls & al-Assad Regime Wins" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 8, 2016
- "Pakistan’s Hand in the Rise of International Jihad" by Carlotta Gall in "The New York Times," Feb 6, 2016
- "Europe's Huddled Masses" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Feb 4, 2016
- "Why is Israel so cautious on the Islamic State? A recent war game explains why." by David Ignatius in "The Washington Post," Jan 26, 2016
- "The Front Lines: On the border of ISIS territory, Iraqi civilians fight for their survival" by Luke Mogelson in "The New Yorker," Jan 18, 2016
- "Prince of Araby: The reckless power behind the Saudi throne" by Susan de Muth on "Informed Comment," Jan 13, 2016
- "Iraq Offers to Mediate Dispute Between Saudi Arabia and Iran" by Kareem Fahim in "The New York Times," Jan 6, 2016
- "ISIS' Territory Shrank in Syria and Iraq This Year" (with maps) by Sergio Peçanha & Derek Watkins in "The New York Times," Dec 22, 1015
- "Top 7 Middle East Foreign Policy Challenges in 2016" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Jan 1, 2016
- "The Return of History" by Aatish Taseer in "The New York Times," Dec 11, 2015
- "Pentagon Seeks to Knit Foreign Bases Into ISIS-Foiling Network" by Mark Mazzetti & Eric Schmitt in "The New York Times," Dec 10, 2015
- "What Are Turkish Troops Doing in Northern Iraq?" by Dexter Filkins in "The New Yorker," Dec 9, 2015
- "#You Ain't No American, Bro" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Dec 9, 2015
- "Why ISIL won't be defeated" by Aljazeera staff on "Aljazeera.com," Dec 8, 2015
- "Vacuum of Knowledge: What you Need to know about the History of Syria" by Joseph Richard Preville & Julie Poucher Harbin for "ISLAMiCommentary" on "Informed Comment," Dec 7, 2015
- "Obama vs. Daesh/ISIL: Freedom is more powerful than Fear & We Refuse to take the Bait" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Dec 7, 2015
- "The Deadly Collateral Damage from ISIS" by Graham E. Fuller on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Dec 4 2015
- "Beyond ISIS: Suicide by World War IV" by Andrew Bacevich on "Informed Comment," Dec 4, 2015
- "Syria: Mission Impossible" by John Feffer on "Informed Comment," Dec 4, 2015
- "How Turkish President Erdogan went Wrong: Dividing and Not Ruling" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Dec 4, 2015
- "Putin's Syrian Misadventure" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Dec 2, 2015
- "Words matter in ‘ISIS’ war, so use ‘Daesh’" by Zeba Khan in "The Boston Globe, Oct 9, 2014
- "Magical Thinking about Isis" by Adam Shatz in "London Review of Books," Dec 3, 2015
- "What Saudi Arabia is (and isn’t) doing in the fight against the Islamic State" by Adam Taylor in "The Washington Post," Nov 25, 2015
- "Letter from Saudi Arabia" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Nov 25, 2015
- "On European Hysteria in the Aftermath of the Paris Attacks" by Sajjad Safaei on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Nov 25, 2015
- "Je Suis Encore Charlie?" by John Feffer on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Nov 21, 2015
- "For Russia, Links Between Caucasus and ISIS Provoke Anxiety" by Neil MacFarquhar in "The New York Times," Nov 20, 2015
- "Lessons from the War Against Al-Qaeda" by Fareed Zakaria on "FareedZakaria.com, Nov 20, 2015
- "A Post-Paris 'Clash of Civilizations'?: It’s the Islamic State’s Dream and Marco Rubio Agrees" by Tom Engelhardt on "TomDispatch.com," Nov 19, 2015
- "In Rise of ISIS, No Single Missed Key but Many Strands of Blame" by Ian Fisher in "The New York Times, Nov 19, 2015
- "How to Fight ISIS," editorial in "The New York Times," Nov 18, 2015
- "Finding Peace Within the Holy Texts" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Nov 17, 2015
- "Egypt: Sisi’s Rule Teetering" by by Emile Nakhleh on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Nov 17, 2015
- "The Attacks in Paris Reveal the Strategic Limits of ISIS" by Olivier Roy in "The New York Times," Nov 16, 2015
- "Washington in Wonderland: Down the Iraqi Rabbit Hole (Again)" by Andrew J. Bacevich on "TomDispatch," June 18, 2015
- "Islamic State: The Hour Has Struck" by Graham E. Fuller on "LobeLog Foreign Policy, Nov 16, 2015
- "A war the West cannot win" by Andrew J. Bacevich in "The Boston Globe," Nov 14, 2015
- "You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia" by Alastair Crooke on "Huffington Post," Nov 15, 2015
- "There Is Only One Way to Defeat ISIS" by Charles F. Pierce in "Esquire," Nov 14, 2015
- "To Save Paris, Defeat ISIS" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Nov 14, 2015
- "Israel stakes claim to Golan after oil find" by Jonathan Cook on "Middle East Eye," Nov 13, 2015
- "Debating Russia's Aims in Syria" by Ibrahim al-Assil, Wayne White and Randa Slim on "Middle East Eye," Nov 10, 2015
- "The King and ISIS" by Daniel Benjamin in "Foreign Policy," Sept 10, 2015
- "ISIS Ally in Egypt Emerges as Key Suspect in Russian Jet Crash" by David D. Kirkpatrick in "The New York Times," Nov 9, 2015
- "The dangers of Obama’s incrementalism" by Fareed Zakaria in "The Washington Post," Nov 5, 2015
- "A Mass Migration Crisis, and It May Yet Get Worse" by Rod Nordland in "The New York Times," Oct 31, 2015
- "Discordant Verdicts on U.S. Forces in Syria: Too Much, or Too Little" by Peter Baker & Eric Schmitt in "The New York Times," Oct 31, 2015
- "Israeli soldiers tell Palestinians: ‘We will gas you until you die’" by Megan Hanna on "Informed Comment," Oct 31, 2015
- "Syria: On eve of Vienna Summit, Has Russia changed the facts on the Ground?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Oct 30, 2015
- "Why Russia Fears ISIL: Panic over Domestic Terror Plots & Wave of Arrests" by Joanna Paraszczuk on "Informed Comment," Oct 30, 2015
- "Ripples of the Iran Deal" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Oct 29, 2015
- "In Syria, the US has nothing but bad options" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Oct 27, 2015
- "What If They Gave a War and Everyone Came? - What Could Possibly Go Wrong (October 2015 Edition)" by Peter Van Buren on "TomDispatch.com," Oct 22, 2015
- "On Building Armies (and Watching Them Fail): Why Washington Can’t 'Stand Up' Foreign Militaries" by Andrew J. Bacevich on "TomDispatch.com," Oct 13, 2015
- "ISIL, al-Qaeda in Syria call for Holy War against Russia" by Joanna Paraszczuk on "Informed Comment," Oct 15, 2015
- "Iran in Syria? Reports its Troops plan Idlib, Aleppo Campaigns" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Oct 15, 2015
- "Turkey Expresses Concern to U.S. and Russia Over Help for Syrian Kurds" by Tim Arango & Anne Barnard in "The New York Times," Oct 14, 2015
- "Al-Qaeda in Syria calls for revenge attacks on Russia" by Loveday Morris & Natasha Abbakumova in "The Washington Post," Oct 13, 2015
- "A Road to Damascus, via Moscow" by Gordon Adams & Stephen M. Walt in "The New York Times," Oct 13, 2015
- "Does Obama have a Syria Strategy? Putin Does." by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Oct 12, 2015
- "The Mideast’s New Cold War: Why Russia won’t Defeat Iraq’s Extremists" by Mustafa Habib on "Informed Comment," Oct 12, 2015
- "Putin’s Syria Strikes Irk some among Russia’s 16 mn. Muslims, Raise Risks" by Tom Balmforth on "Informed Comment," Oct 11, 2015
- "What is Russia’s Strategy in Syria & Why does Egypt Approve?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Oct 8, 2015
- "Abdallah al-Muhaysini, a Pivotal Figure in the Islamist Insurgency in Syria" by Waleed Rikab on "Syria C0mment," Oct 7, 2015
- "The siege of Damascus: Everyday life in Syria’s savage war" by Peter Osborne on "Middle East Eye," Sept 28, 2015
- "US Intel Chief: Iraq and Syria may not Survive as States" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment, Sept 14, 2015
- "When will War be off the Table? Iran & US Trash Talk" by David M. Faris on "Informed Comment," Sept 14, 2015
- "Cameron, Hollande and Merkel: Why we support the Iran deal" by David Cameron, François Hollande and Angela Merkel in "The Washington Post," Sept 10, 2015
- "When ISIS Rapists Win" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Aug 28, 2015
- "Middle Eastern Zen" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Aug 27, 2015
- "Why ISIS Trumps Freedom" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Aug 13, 2015
- "How worried should we be about terrorism?" by Global Public Square staff on "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Nov 24, 2014
- "The Pivot to Eurasia" by Pepe Escobar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Aug 1, 2015
- "Just What Is Turkey Up To?" by Graham E. Fuller on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," July 31, 2015
- "For the Mideast, It’s Still 1979" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," July 29, 2015
- "Goals Diverge and Perils Remain as U.S. and Turkey Take on ISIS" by Anne Barnard and Michael R. Gordon in "The New York Times," July 27, 2015
- "Keep Pushing for an Iran Deal" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Nov 25, 2014
- "No, Mr. Netanyahu, Iran isn’t trying to Take over the world & it isn’t ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," July 13, 1015
- "The Islamic State Is Here to Stay" by Ahmed S. Hashim on "Vice News," June 5, 2015
- "The Great Wall of Turkey? Ankara imagines DMZ w/ Kurds, ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," June 30, 2015
- "Inside the Islamic State" by Malise Ruthven in "The New York Review of Books," July 9, 2015 issue (a review of Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate by Abdel Bari Atwan)
- "Pres. Erdogan sees Syrian Kurds’ advance against ISIL as 'danger' to Turkey" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," June 15, 2015
- "ISIS & the Shia Revival in Iraq" by Nicolas Pelham in "The New York Review of Books," June 4, 2015 issue
- "ISIS & the Shia Revival in Iraq" by Nicolas Pelham in the New York Review of Books, May 6, 2015
- "Modest Increase in Iraq Training Mission shows Obama still Uninterested & Maybe he’s Right" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," June 10, 2015
- "No easy choice on ISIS" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe, June 5, 2015
- "The Desperate Plight of a Declining Superpower" by Michael Klare on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," May 30, 2015
- "Why ISIL’s Attacks on Shiites of Saudi Arabia Threaten World Economy" by Juan Cole on "InformedComment," May 30, 2015
- "Obama’s GCC “Summit” and the Deepening Incoherence of America’s Middle East Strategy" by Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett on "GoingToTehran," May 12, 2015
- "Yemen Bombing: It’s not ISIL and it’s not Sunni-Shiite Conflict" by Juan Cole on "InformedComment," March 21, 2015
- "Saudis Must Stop Exporting Extremism - ISIS Atrocities Started With Saudi Support for Salafi Hate" by Ed Husain in "The New York Times," Aug 22, 2014
- "The Middle East in 2015 and Beyond: Trends and Drivers" by Paul Salem at "Middle East Institute," Nov 18, 2014
- "Islamic State: Washington and Baghdad 'Don’t Get It'” by Wayne White on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," May 19, 2015
- "The generators of ISIS still remain" by Rami G. Khouri in "The Daily Star" (Lebanon), May 13, 2015
- "Ethno-nationalism rules in our region" by Rami G. Khouri in "The Daily Star" (Lebanon), May 9, 2015
- "Netanyahu’s Iran Thing" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," March 6, 2015
- "ISIS Heads to Rome" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Feb 25, 2015
- "The Islamic State: The beast keeps growing" by John McLaughlin in "USA Today," Feb 24, 2015
- "Iranophobia Complicates the Fight against ISIS" by Eldar Mamedov on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Feb 24, 2015
- "The dangers of labeling terrorism" by Richard Cohen in "The Washington Post," Feb 23, 2015
- "Deny the Islamic State the overreaction that it wants" by Fareed Zakaria in "The Washington Post," Feb 5, 2015
- "Islamic State’s Global Ambitions" by Jessica Lewis McFate & Harleen Gambhir in "The Wall Street Journal," Feb 22, 2015
- "Don’t fight extremism through denial" by Rami G. Khouri in "The Daily Star" (Lebanon), Feb 21, 2015
- "What The Atlantic Gets Dangerously Wrong About ISIS And Islam" by Jack Jenkins on "ThinkProgress.org," on Feb 18, 2015 (response to "What ISIS Really Wants" by Graeme Wood in "The Atlantic," March 2015)
- "Fools confuse religion and criminality" by Rami G. Khouri in "The Daily Star" (Lebanon), Feb 18, 2015
- "Interpreting Islam to Muslims" by Graham E. Fuller on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Feb 21, 2015
- "The Nationalist Solution" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Feb 20, 2015
- "French, British colonialism grew a root of terrorism" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Feb 11, 2015
- "What ISIS Really Wants" by Graeme Wood in "The Atlantic," March 2015 (see also response from Jack Jenkins: "What The Atlantic Gets Dangerously Wrong About ISIS And Islam")
- "Today’s Top 7 Myths about Daesh/ ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 17, 2015
- "Islam and the West at War" by Roger Cohen, in "The New York Times," Feb 16, 2015
- "What Libya’s Unraveling Means," an editorial in "The New York Times," Feb 14, 2015
- "Hillary Mann Leverett on America’s War with the Islamic State, the Iran Nuclear Talks and U.S.-Israeli Relations, and U.S.-Russian Proxy War in Ukraine" posted on "GoingtoTehran.com," Feb 9, 2015 (includes three Feb 8, 2015 MSNBC videos: "Parents of ISIS hostage holding out hope," "Obama’s ‘crusades’ comment sparks firestorm," and "Iran at center of Netanyahu speech controversy.")
- "How Islamist rebels engineered Israel’s oil grab in Syria" by Nafeez Ahmed on "Middle East Eye," Jan 28, 2015
- "Graham Fuller’s Five Middle East Predictions for 2015" by Graham E. Fuller on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Jan 4, 2015
- "Why McCain & GOP are Slamming Obama for Writing Iran re: ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Nov 7, 2014
- "In the Syria We Don’t Know" by Charles Glass in "The New York Review of Books," Nov 6, 2014
- "Top 7 Ways US Intervention in Iraq/Syria could turn Catastrophic" by Peter Van Buren on "Informed Comment," Oct 17, 2014
- "Why the Islamic State Is Losing" by Michael Knights on "Politico.com," Oct 14, 2014
- "ISIS and Washington’s Ignorance About the Sunni-Shia Divide" by Gary Leupp on "Counterpunch.org," Sept 15, 2014
- "The Terrorists have our Number, and do a Number on Washington" by Tom Engelhardt on Tomdispatch.com via "Informed Comment," Oct 8, 2014
- "ISIS, Boko Haram and Batman" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," by Oct 4, 2014
- "Barack Obama, the Islamic State, and America’s Never-Ending War in the Middle East" by Flynt Leverett on Hillary Mann Leverett on www.goingtotehran.com, Oct 1, 2014
- "What ISIS Could Teach the West" by Nicholas Kristof in "The New York Times," Oct 1, 2014
- "Order vs. Disorder, Part 4" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times." Sept 30, 2014
- "QOTD: Joel Silberman" by digby on "Hullaboo," Sept 28, 2014
- "Satire: ISIS First Sgt: Recruits Ain’t What They Used to Be" by Peter Van Buren on wemeantwell.com, Sept 27, 2014
- "The Fight of Their Lives" by Dexter Filkins in "The New Yorker," Sept 29, 2014 (If the link doesn't work, click here.)
- "Dismal Lessons From Libya and Yemen" an editorial in "The New York Times," Sept 27, 2014
- "Who Had It Easier, Reagan or Obama?" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Sept 27, 2014
- "ISIS’ Harsh Brand of Islam Is Rooted in Austere Saudi Creed" by David D. Kirkpatrick in "The New York Times," Sept 24, 2014
- "Snap Out of It" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Sept 22, 2014
- "Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order" on Wikipedia (undated)
- "U.S. Suspects More Direct Threats Beyond ISIS" by Mark Mazzetti, Michael S. Schmidt & Ben Hubbard in "The New York Times," Sept 20, 2014
- "Suspicions Run Deep in Iraq That C.I.A. and the Islamic State Are United" by David D. Kirkpatrick in "The New York Times," Sept 20, 2014
- "Turkey Obtains Release of Hostages Held in Iraq" by Ben Hubbard, Sebnem Arsu & Ceylan Yeginsu in "The New York Times," Sept 20, 2014
- "Iraq: How Many Turning Points and Milestones Until We Win?" by Peter Van Buren on "WeMeantWell" blog, Sept 18, 2014
- "It’s posse time in the Middle East" by Rami G. Khouri in "The Daily Star" (Lebanon), Sept 17, 2014
- "Obama has No ISIS Strategy" by Peter Van Buren on "WeMeantWell" blog, Sept 16, 2014
- "Hearts, Minds and Dead Sunnis in Iraq" by Peter Van Buren on "WeMeantWell" blog, Sept 15, 2014
- "How Climate Change Sparked the Crisis in Syria" by Michael Shank & Emily Wirzba in "US News & World Report," Sept 13, 2014 (see also the "Frontline" documentaries listed below)
- "Without Water, Revolution" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York TImes," May 18, 2013
- "U.S. Faces Tough Struggle on Ground to Oust ISIS" by Michael R. Gordon, Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper in "The New York Times," Sept 18, 2014
- "From D.C. to Syria, a Mess: The ISIS Campaign Is Off to a Shaky Start" by Nicholas Kristof in "The New York Times," Sept 17, 2014
- "Who’s Paying the Pro-War Pundits?" by Lee Fang in "The Nation," Sept 16, 2014 (If the link doesn't work, click here.)
- "Take a Deep Breath: ISIS and the Arab World" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times," Sept 16, 2014
- "What’s Their Plan?: Obama’s Strategy for Fighting ISIS Isn’t All About Us" by Thomas L. Friedman in "The New York Times, Sept 13, 2014
- "The Islamic State threat is overstated" by Ramzy Mardini in "The Washington Post," Sept 12, 2014
- "The Revolt of the Weak" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Sept 1, 2014
- "U.S. Policy Toward the Islamic State and the Folly of Sanctioning Russia" by Hillary Mann Leverett on goingtotehran.com, Aug 31, 2014
- "Iraqi Politics, Iranian-Iraqi relations, and How to Think About the Islamic State" by Flynt Leverett on "GoingtoTehran.com," Aug 14, 2014
- "Is ISIS a Direct Threat to the U.S.?" by Peter Van Buren on "WeMeantWell.com," Aug 14, 2014
- "Kaj Larsen Gives a Debriefing on Boko Haram (Vice)" by Nicholas Kolenda on "Informed Comment," Feb 8, 2016
- "The Rise of ISIS" on PBS's "Frontline," Oct 28, 2014
- "Ebola Oubreak" on PBS's "Frontline," Sept 9, 2014
- "Hunting Boko Haram" on PBS's "Frontline," Sept 9, 2014
- Armstrong, Karen, Islam: A Short History, 2000
- Armstrong, Karen, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time, 2006
- Atwan, Abdel Bari, Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate, 201
- Rosen, Nir, In the Belly of the Green Bird: The Triumph of the Martyrs in Iraq. New York: Free Press, 2006.
- Stern, Jessica & Berger J.M., ISIS: The State of Terror (2015)
- Weiss, Michael & Hassan, Hassan, ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (2015)
- "The Mystery of ISIS" by Anonymous in "The New York Review of Books," Aug 13, 2015, a review of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan and ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger