ISIL’s notion of a Caliphate is aligned with the concept of a community rather than of a state and strategic focus is on psychological rather than territorial control.
There are some good reasons to increase the U.S. military force level in Syria; but if we do, it should be a short and decisive intervention with a clear goal.
A partial solution is not expensive, created from exotic materials, or overly glamorous, but rather, an approach that requires only the slightest redirection of priorities.
Even as coalition forces mass on the suburbs of Mosul and prepare their assault on the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, strategic planners are far from declaring victory.
