(CAPX-Centre for Policy Studies-UK) Dr. Henry Kissinger - In the Middle East, four states - Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen - have ceased to function as sovereign and have become battlegrounds for factions seeking to impose their rule. Across large areas of Iraq and Syria, an ideologically radical religious army, ISIS, has declared itself a relentless foe of modern civilization, seeking violently to replace the international system's multiplicity of states with a single Islamic empire governed by Sharia law. Which entity is supposed to inherit ISIS' territory - a coalition of Sunnis or a sphere of influence dominated by Iran? If the ISIS territory is occupied by Iran's Revolutionary Guards or Shia forces trained and directed by it, the result could be a territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut, which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire. The writer was former Secretary of State and National Security Advisory under President Richard Nixon.
2017-08-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive