The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) poses a serious challenge to Iraq’s future. The lacklustre performance of the Iraqi military bodes ill for the prospects of the government recovering control …
Tag Archive for: "Syria"
Peter Jennings picks up a theme that has been working its way through the Western security community for some years now, and quite explicitly so since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: hard power is back. That’s …
2014 is the year hard power re-emerged as the driving force in international affairs. Hard power is the actual or threatened use of military force to achieve national objectives. It’s an ugly thing, supposedly a …
Last week I suggested that Australia takes two steps with regard to those Australians fighting in the Syrian conflict, who’ve been trained by extremist groups and gained battlefield experience. First, our government should release a …
Over the past two years, a significant number of Australians have become involved with armed opposition groups in Syria. Some (see here and here) have joined two jihadist organisations proscribed under Australia’s counter terrorism legislation, …