The way the Arab and Muslim people in the region react to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)reveals the boundaries of the Islamic State (IS) identity formation. Even though ISIS aspires to supplant other religious, Arab and national identities, in reality the IS cannot unshackle itself from these identities.

As the United States has been undertaking an air strike campaign in Iraq and Syria for several weeks, the familiar question in US foreign policy debates reappeared: can airpower alone do the job? Wrong questions, though, lead to wrong answers. Too much focus on military means and ways results in the tacticization of strategy and the neglect of the political context. The United States should strive to defeat the Islamic State strategically, employing military force if necessary, but not by force alone, because weapons can win battles but cannot win wars.

With Syria in the spotlight of the world’s attention, situation in neighbouring Iraq is painted darker by the day. Latest developments in the country raise fears of descent into a civil war, as terrorism and attacks between the two major denominational groups are on the rise. And while the international and regional actors have their own agenda and motives in interfering (or not) in this gambit, the Iraqi Government is struggling to balance among the powers of the region, find common ground with the Kurdish Administration in Arbil and proposes the Iraqi Syria Initiative for the termination of the bloodshed next door.

The article is about the Iraqi stance on the Syrian crisis and in particular of the official government, the Sunni minority in Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds and the tribes in Iraq. Each party has its own goals and interests in the outcome of the Syrian civil war and we will see them unfold below.

Though European and American interest in now focused in the dramatic uprising in Syria, another major country of the region, Iraq, seems to be few steps away from the abyss of an all-out sectarian strife. United States’ record in Iraq seems rather bleak. They prevented the re-creation of a strong Iraqi military, which could guarantee internal and external security and become a steam engine for state building.

The purpose of this article is to examine the current socio-political situation in Iraq and how it has been influenced by foreign economic plans. Its main argument is that the neo-liberal economic model, which has been chosen by the occupying powers is not beneficial for the majority of the Iraqi population. It is instead increasing insecurity and unemployment while simultaneously fueling the insurgency.

Με τη συρο-ιρακινή κρίση να μαίνεται, το αμερικανικό υπουργείο Αμύνης αποφάσισε την έναρξη ενός νέου προγράμματος εκπαίδευσης μαχητών από τις τάξεις της λεγόμενης μετριοπαθούς αντιπολίτευσης στη Συρία στο πλαίσιο της διεθνούς προσπάθειας εναντίον του ISIS. Εκ πρώτης όψεως, η απόφαση αυτή φαίνεται πως αποσκοπεί στην κλιμάκωση του πολέμου κατά των Τζιχαντιστών στο μέτωπο της Συρίας, το οποίο παραμένει εν πολλοίς αμετάβλητο, λόγω της επικέντρωσης των επιθέσεων στο μέτωπο του Ιράκ. Ωστόσο η γεωπολιτική συνθετότητα της παρούσας κρίσης στη Μέση Ανατολή εκ των πραγμάτων δημιουργεί πολλαπλά περιθώρια ερμηνείας της απόφασης αυτής, κυρίως λόγω της άμεσης και έμμεσης εμπλοκής διάφορων αντιμαχόμενων μερών, σε τοπικό και περιφερειακό επίπεδο.

Εντός του καλοκαιριού, ένας Ιρακινός οπλαρχηγός, ονόματι Αμπού Μπάκρ αλ Μπαγντάντι, αυτοανακηρύσσεται Χαλίφης όλων των μουσουλμάνων κατά την διάρκεια μιας προσευχής σε ένα τζαμί της, «απελευθερωμένης» από τους Τζιχαντιστές, Μοσούλης. Παράλληλα, οι αρχές του «Ισλαμικού Κράτους» εξέδωσαν αυστηρές οδηγίες για το πως πρέπει να συμπεριφέρονται οι άνδρες και οι γυναίκες υπήκοοί του, βάσει όσων ορίζει η Σαρία, την ώρα που οι μουσουλμάνοι καταστηματάρχες του Λονδίνου λάμβαναν φυλλάδια με το χαρμόσυνο μήνυμα: “The Caliphate has been established”. Αναμφίβολα, η «επανίδρυση του Χαλιφάτου» ενενήντα ολόκληρα χρόνια μετά την κατάργησή του εγείρει ενδιαφέροντα ζητήματα προς αναστοχασμό σε συνάρτηση με την ιστορική εξέλιξη του θεσμού, τις προκλήσεις που αντιμετώπισαν τα διάφορα ισλαμιστικά ρεύματα κατά τα τελευταία χρόνια, καθώς και τα ρευστά γεωπολιτικά δεδομένα στην δοκιμαζόμενη από διακοινοτική βία Μέση Ανατολή.

Cataclysmic territorial encroachment by the IS/ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) towards Baghdad and in Iraq's Kurdish region beyond Mosul remains as ascendant as it is in northern Syria despite the aerial attacks and some external assistance to the recently installed Haider al-Abadi administration in Iraq. With the air campaign proving less effective, the United States and other Western allies have accentuated pressure on Turkey to commit its troops on the ground so as to blunt the IS forces. Interestingly, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the main antagonist for the IS, Ankara and the NATO, may be receptive to the idea of Turkish troops fighting fellow Sunnis so as to provide him both a needed legitimacy and some respite since President Tayyip Erdogan remains a persistent foe for the Baathist regime in Damascus. Concurrently, the Kurds divided across several post-colonial states and often seeking sovereignty and unification, begrudge Turkey for not helping their co-ethnics in Syria and for keeping its involvement limited to strictly settling down displaced Arabs and Kurdish refugees. In the same vein, the Iranians are equally engrossed in this fratricide on the side of a beleaguered Assad and a vulnerable Baghdad regime while poised against the troubadours of a Sunni Middle East such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In fact, they are relishing a field day since their favourite Shia Houthis obtained an upper hand in a war torn Yemen. Another major Iranian ally, Hezbollah, is already well-ensconced in Lebanon besides fighting the Sunni opposition to Assad, whereas rest of the world seems to be largely focused on IS's assault on Ain-al Arab (Kobani), a strategic town straddling the Turkish-Syrian borders. If the IS was able to capture this town, it would have the entire swathe of territory from Kirkuk in Iraq to Aleppo and eastern Mediterranean in Syria under its control bestowing it some of the most fertile valleys along with facilitating the munificent export of gas.

Obama's State of the Union address on January 24, 2012 was devoted mainly to United States' current socio-economic problems. This focus on United States internal problems should come as no surprise. It is clear that the severe economic crisis that engulfs the United States these days is the highest priority of the American people.