Islamic State Is Just a Symptom, Not the Cause

Islamic State Is Just a Symptom, Not the Cause

The political shock waves caused by the Islamic State’s success will require a unified response The shock waves caused by the Islamic State’s advances in northern Iraq are continuing to ripple through the region in sometimes unexpected ways. Who would have predicted the formation of a new coalition of western countries favouring military intervention in Iraq 11 years after the US-led invasion? Or the demise of arch politician Nouri Al Maliki, or even that this might have an ultimately unifying effect on Iraq as a nation? All this reflects the complexities at play. For all the talk about protecting Iraqi minorities from the Islamic State and its barbaric misinterpretation of Islam – a worthy enough goal on its own – one cause of this intervention was the prospect of the Kurdish region, and particularly its oil resources, being lost to an extremist group.

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