The Islamic State And The Redistribution Of Power In The Middle East

Abstract

*Scientific article regarding ISIS actions and ideology, written in 2015 "The main argument in this paper is that the actions of the jihadists of ISIS will provoke important redistributions of power in the Middle East, resulting in major changes not only as regards the strategies of the main actors in the Middle East, but also for the Great Powers. It seeks to explain to what extent the emergence of ISIS provoked redefinition of threats and interests in the Middle East so that states and non-state actors were forced to cooperate in the light of a greater evil. Implications for Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey are discussed. Then, the competing regional strategies of Great Powers--the U.S., Russia, Europe, and China-- in the Middle East are considered to have left a power vacuum that contributed to the ascent of ISIS. Ironically, these rival powers are being forced to cooperate in unanticipated ways in their common desire to eliminate ISIS as a threat to their strategic interests."