The evil that the Islamic State represents is not something that Iraq or the region can take on alone. We face a common threat and it requires a common response.

Obama: This is not America’s fight alone. Above all, the people and governments of the Middle East are rejecting ISIL and standing up for the peace and security that the region deserves

We welcome all contributions to improve security, including by means of training and equipment, in order to push back and defeat ISIL

Our goal is clear: to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy

“Rooting out a cancer like ISIL will not be quick or easy, but I’m confident that we can — and we will — working closely with our allies and our partners,” Obama said.

Amid wider regional disintegration, especially the civil war in Syria, those forces of chaos and conflict have grown dominant. The United States is now confronted with a series of bad options.

As ISIS militants push further into Iraq, new scrutiny is being given to the threat posed by the growing number of Western fighters who have joined the ranks of the Sunni militant group.

What, then are the origins of savagery, if they cannot be ascribed to a single religion or ideology? The first part of an answer may be horribly simple: savagery begets savagery.

 Along with its surprising military success, the Islamic State group has demonstrated a skill and sophistication with social media previously unseen in extremist groups.

And just as the United States has begun an aggressive air campaign against the militants, Richard A. Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, believes the United States has no choice but to counter their propaganda with a forceful online response.

The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) has been aided by the continuing failure of the US Government to investigate the role of Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks.

While we may not know the future of the Islamic State, it is clear that Baghdadi has steered the organisation back to prominence.

By delinking a ceasefire from a political solution.Whoever seizes the opportunity first the Syrian opposition and those who genuinely support it,or Assad can make it costly for the other to reject it

Obama’s approach is praiseworthy for three reasons. First, it combines force and diplomacy. Second, it attaches careful conditions to the type and scope of American military action.

Those in this region, like the Israelis, or those in the West who believe they can wall themselves off from the threat are cruelly mistaken.

The global response is failing to curb this terrorist strategy. There appears to be little international co-ordination on the release of hostage.

With Iraq and Syria ablaze, the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems almost an afterthought. But Riyadh will be a crucial, if quixotic, ally as the United States seeks to mobilize Sunni Muslims

A new national guard could help bridge Iraq’s sectarian divide. But it must be accompanied by diplomatic efforts to reach out to Sunnis and prevent outside meddling.

Defeating IS would involve a long-term, comprehensive strategy. Here is how to do it.

The outlines of a US strategy to roll back ISIS in Iraq have become relatively clear, even if success is uncertain. But there is no clarity yet as to the strategy that might defeat ISIS in Syria

Therefore, IS could find itself in disarray in the event of Baghdadi's death if it cannot immediately achieve consensus on a successor who can live up to his legacy

Saudi Arabia's internal discord and tensions over ISIS can only be understood by grasping the inherent. duality that lies at the core of the Kingdom's doctrinal makeup and its historical origins.

Four years after the Arab revolutions of 2011 the hopes that the uprisings kindled seem to have been all but extinguished. Libya, Syria and Iraq present grim variations on the theme of “failed states”

Obama said joint operation centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq will be stood up to better share intelligence and coordinate planning with the Iraqis as they confront the terrorist threat posed by ISI

Amid a clamor of voices calling for Washington to arm the peshmerga, it is important to draw lessons from the recent fighting that highlight the Kurdish military's more pressing needs.

Three years ago, it was hard to find anything significant about Syria in books about al-Qaida. Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, which many consider the definitive history of al-Qaida

Saudi Arabia is pushing for Sunni Muslim Middle East countries to set aside differences over political Islam and focus on what it sees as more urgent threats from Iran and Islamic State.

It's no secret that countering ISIS messaging requires telling a better story. So why hasn't the U.S. come up with one yet

The best line of defense for regional states worried about the threats posed by ISIS -- including unexpected game changers like Ebola -- is to enhance border and port security.

Foreign fighters participate in some of ISIS' 'worst acts,' but there isn't one clear explanation on why they join the battle in the first place.

The Enemy of the United States' Enemy

America’s clout in the Middle East is waning, but this is not the fruit of an inexorable process divorced from human will

The global response is failing to curb this terrorist strategy. There appears to be little international co-ordination on the release of hostage.

Senators and Obama’s top officials agree on one thing on the war against the Islamic State -- Congress is unlikely to authorize it, and it’s unlikely to matter.

Washington will defeat ISIS by waiting it out as the organization cracks from within.

“The more powerful ISIS grows, the more they are useful for the regime"

To win hearts and minds in the Middle East, America needs to let local allies do the talking.

A month after the White House released a new draft to authorize military force against the Islamic State, the measure hasn't gained support in either chamber or party

Judge scored a victory for young jihadi love this week when she issued a preliminary ruling that two teens who had tried to travel to Syria to marry Islamic State fighters committed no cri

Washington’s military campaign against ISIS may extend to the terror group’s affiliates in countries such as Libya and Nigeria, the U.S. secretary of defense Ash Carter has said

Boko Haram's affiliation with the Islamic State will likely yield more for the Nigerian insurgency's recruiting than any game-changing operational assistance.

What's missing in policy discussions about ISIS is a sense of an overarching strategic framework for countering the group in cyberspace.

The world of Islamist fighters is deeply fragmented and constantly shifting

The bursts of criticism—from those who inveterately oppose any dealing with Iran—of a letter Mr. Obama reportedly sent to the supreme leader of Iran can readily be dismissed for multiple reasons.

Letter from Tehran

America is bitterly divided over the threat of Islamic extremism partly because we are now bitterly divided over almost everything

There is no place in the world today where chaos is more prevalent and the reestablishment of order more critical than the Middle East. The “great game" between rival great powers may have originated in Central Asia but it found its most intense expression at the "crossroads of empire" in the Middle East. As long as American interests are still engaged the United States cannot desist from playing it.

Why the United States can do very little to alter the course of events in the Middle East right now.

How did ISIS achieve this coup?

While Obama’s chosen path may have disappointed more hawkish critics, his speech reflected a stark political reality.

One of the Islamic State’s senior commanders reveals exclusive details of the terror group’s origins inside an Iraqi prison – right under the noses of their American jailers. Report by Martin Chulov

These shifts are rooted in the emergence of the Islamic State. Ideologically, there is little difference between the Islamic State and other radical Islamic jihadist movements.

In attacking Kobani, the Isis leadership wanted to prove that it could still defeat its enemies despite the US airstrikes against it

When it comes to destroying the Islamic State in Syria, boots on the ground should be the least of our worries.

The beheadings are meant to challenge and intimidate the Western public, but that is only a secondary benefit for ISIL, whose focus remains on defeating enemies in immediate proximity.

Whatever your politics, you’re not likely to feel great about America right now

As the attention of the world focused on Ukraine and Gaza, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) captured a third of Syria in addition to the quarter of Iraq it had seized in June.

"Given the disparate motives of the various parties, it is unwise for U.S. officials to view the fight against ISIS as a stark conflict between good and evil."

It is too early to say that the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State is imploding, but it is scarcely too soon to question whether this is possible.

It’s not too soon to state the obvious: At this point, the war against the Islamic State can be seen only as failing.

Why Counterterrorism Won’t Stop the Latest Jihadist Threat

The Terrorist Group Struggles to Hold On

If you want to understand what's happening in the Middle East today, you need to appreciate one fundamental fact: ISIS is losing its war for the Middle East.

Iraq’s government may not be ready to handle what happens when it defeats ISIS

Why ISIS Fighters Support the Vote

Eleven years and billions of dollars later, American troops are once again in Iraq, after having withdrawn in 2011. This time, they better plan on staying for the long haul.

The Syrian roots of Iraq's newest civil war.

How is this strategy working? So far, Libya and the Sinai appear to be the locations with the most promise, though the Islamic State’s presence in these areas should not be overstated

Evidence suggests that the Islamic State's power has been declining for months.

The brutal jihadist is simply a frontman for many strands of disaffected Iraqi opinion

ABOARD THE U.S.S. CARL VINSON, in the Persian Gulf — More than a dozen Navy F/A-18 warplanes roar off this aircraft carrier every day to attack Islamic State targets.

Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have had clear benefits, but a broader campaign involving more intelligence and targeting assistance on the ground is required

A serious alliance against ISIS built on Sunni Arab states and Turkey cannot hold together over the long term without a more forceful U.S. policy toward the Syrian regime.

Why drones are not enough in Iraq and Syria

The question about President Obama’s resumption of war in Iraq is not whether it can be justified but where it will lead

While Obama’s chosen path may have disappointed more hawkish critics, his speech reflected a stark political reality.

In the annals of warfare there have been few conflicts as asymmetric as the United States against the Islamic State, which pits a global superpower at the head of an international coalition

ISIL is better equipped than al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) or any other militia or extremist groups the Army faced.

The United States has begun training Iraqi army recruits, a central part of the strategy by the U.S.-led coalition that is working with the Iraqi government to retake territory

A top US commander warns Caribbean and South American countries are unable to track 100 foreign fighters that could return from Syria

What to Do With Iraq’s Shia Popular Mobilization Units

How to Defeat ISIS and Save the Country

Critics of airstrikes over Iraq and Syria should give credit where it’s due: US sustained drone strikes are doing the job.

Data scientists say Twitter has done much to thwart ISIS, but offer these simple steps to degrade the group and its massive online following

After months of trying to unseat al Qaeda on the African continent, the jihadis from Syria have locked arms with Boko Haram.

"That is why, at the end of my first week as Secretary of Defense, I traveled to Afghanistan and Kuwait, where I thanked our men and women in uniform for their contributions to important missions.
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"How could I go to the Coptic Cathedral to extend my condolences when the Egyptian army hasn't avenged the attacks?" asked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

No more blood without oil....

Analysts at the NGA have taken the tradecraft used to spy on Russia and China and turned it on black market oil transports

Iran is leading the fight against the Islamic State. Here's what it is using...

Three crucial messages should guide America's fight against ISIS.

The request by the Iraqi government for U.S. air support may serve as a vindication for American commanders, who had been blindsided by the decision to launch the offensive