Monitor Global Outlook quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the impact Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria may have on stability in Jordan:
“The intent [by ISIS] to threaten Jordan’s stability is certainly there,” says Faysal Itani, resident fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “The capability, for now, is not.”
ISIS militants have secured vast territory in Iraq over the last two weeks and are working to consolidate those gains ahead of a planned push toward the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Opening a new front in Jordan is not a priority – for now.
“At the moment, ISIS is simply building a base from which to challenge the regional political order – its ‘state’ in Iraq and Syria is a starting point, and its efforts and resources are focused on the objective at hand,” says Mr. Itani.
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For its part, the Jordanian government is unlikely to strike ISIS preemptively, knowing that “it will face violent resistance that may extend into Jordanian territory and take the form of asymmetric attacks,” Itani says.