With the Syria vote looming, Fathom is publishing a major analysis by BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow Brig. Gen. (res) Michael Herzog. He argues that while air strikes can contain ISIS, only troops on the ground can defeat it. Only a clear show of determination by Western powers can successfully recruit local forces to an anti ISIS coalition, so the West should ally with Syrian Kurds and select Sunni tribes in return for autonomy in a ‘day after’ political solution. Safe zones in Syria should be created and maintained to mitigate the human tragedy while the West also needs a comprehensive strategy to counter ISIS’s ideological appeal. While focusing on ISIS, Western policy makers should try and prevent the empowerment of the Iranian-led axis.

The Syrian Cauldron – A View from Israel

by Michael Herzog