The Financial Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on plans by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to consolidate territory across the region’s borders:
“Isis overplayed their hand,” says Ramzy Mardini, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, a US-based think-tank. “They have created a disparate movement with lots of players. And like many Sunni insurgencies before this, the elements are likely to turn on each other … Their march towards Baghdad has awoken a sleeping giant. So in terms of strategy, I do not see one.”