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The Coalition of Convenience in the War Against the Islamic State
(Foreign Policy) Aaron David Miller - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE clearly see a significant threat from the Islamic State. But this group of nations is too diverse, weak, and preoccupied to provide the necessary traction to aid the war against the Islamic State in a measurable way - either from the air or ground. The notion that Arab state forces will be mobilized in large numbers to fight IS in Syria, or to fly hundreds of sorties above Iraq, is a real stretch. That's not to say the Arabs aren't willing to fight the Islamic State. They are - but primarily to the last American. The Islamic State problem is ultimately a Syrian and Iraqi problem; it will require the kind of local buy-in that doesn't exist now. The regional coalition the Obama administration has assembled should not be overestimated. Together with U.S. military power, it's a way to help keep the Islamic State off balance. But it cannot destroy it. Only Syrians and Iraqis can do that. The writer is vice president for new initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.