The declaration of a Middle Eastern caliphate has wide-reaching consequences for the region and the world. The West needs to realize the significance of what is happening.
Reducing the role of the EU institutions in foreign policy making has severely dented the union’s standing, credibility, and influence in the Arab world and beyond.
With the conflict reaching Iraq, which reflects to the same religious divisions as in Azerbaijan, the risk is greater that Azerbaijanis Shia and Sunnites will be affected by the sectarianism of the Middle East.
The return of Shia fighters to Iraq has left Hezbollah overstretched in Syria and vulnerable at home.
As the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit fall into the hands of Al Qaeda-influenced jihadists, Jordan will serve as a crucial buffer from the terrorist movements that threaten to spill over into the region.
Leaving Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul in rebel hands could fatally undermine Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s already weak legitimacy as a national leader. But even if the army were to recapture all or most of the rebel-held cities, the Mosul debacle has already dealt a tremendous blow not only to Maliki but to the Iraqi state as well.
Government corruption is an important factor in the rise of violent extremism. Syria, Ukraine, and Nigeria are important contemporary examples.
The highly localized nature of the Syrian conflict means that its evolution and eventual resolution will elude the control of outsiders.
For Tehran, the Syrian conflict is at the center of an ideological, sectarian, and geopolitical struggle against a diverse array of adversaries.
In response to the open-ended Syrian civil war and the policy dilemmas it raises, the Israeli government has essentially decided to take a backseat.












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