The Telegraph quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on efforts to build a regional coalition that will combat the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham: 

Frederic Hof, a former special adviser to the Obama administration on Syria and now senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Centre for the Middle East, said it remained unclear if Mr Obama was serious about entering the Syrian conflict, rather than engaging in isolated strikes on Isil there.

“For a White House accustomed to micromanagement and the managing of messages, this is unfamiliar terrain,” he warned. “The coalition will need constant tending: it contains oarsmen not accustomed to pulling in the same direction.”

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