U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is touring the Middle East to press for cooperation in battling the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, following President Obama's announcement that the U.S would increase its efforts to "degrade and destroy" the group.
In the months leading up to Wednesday's announcement, Bloomberg News reports the United States has flown approximately 2,700 air missions over Iraq against ISIS. The AP reports France has already stated that it will dedicate efforts alongside the United States, but who else might?
The Texas Standard’s David Brown sits down with Bobby Chesney, the Director of the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, to gain some clarity on what the US stands to gain from garnering allies and who they might be.
What Allies Could Bring to the Table:
"For most coalition partners, what we're really talking about is either funding, the provision of arms, the provision of training, the provision or sharing of intelligence … a variety of things like that that are critical but don’t capture the headlines like bombing does."
Is a Middle East coalition against ISIS even possible?
"It's been reported in the media that there are so-called military operations centers set up in both Jordan and Turkey and these are, in effect, joint intelligence sharing and coordination centers that currently are ... trying to identify and enhance the capacity of the so-called moderate Syrian opposition. Now that's the real tricky part in all of this. Is there really a realistic force that is a moderate, reliable non-Assad regime ... to work with in Syria?"
