What to Do About ISIS?
Exploring the hard choices facing the United States and the world
How ISIS Spread in the Middle East
And how to stop it
-
![]()
Murad Sezer / Reuters The Problem With Vows to 'Defeat' the Islamic State
What happens after Raqqa falls?
-
![]()
Rodi Said / Reuters Leave Root Causes Aside—Destroy the ISIS ‘State’
Of course it would be daunting to solve the conflicts the Islamic State feeds on. But that isn’t, or shouldn’t be, the mission.
-
![]()
Thaier Al-Sudani / Reuters America Can’t Do Much About ISIS
That leaves patience, containment, and humanitarian aid as the least-bad policies while waiting for this awful war to play itself out.
-
-
![]()
Dado Ruvic / Reuters Why ISIS Propaganda Works
And why stopping it requires that governments get out of the way
-
![]()
Riadh Dridi / Reuters Fight ISIS With Democracy
The Islamic State offers a false choice between dictatorship and extremism. Tunisia proves there’s a better way.
-
![]()
Jake Simkin / AP Why ISIS Cannot Be Negotiated With
Jonathan Powell argues that talking to terrorists has brought peace in the past. But the Islamic State really is different.
-
![]()
Dan Mitler / Flickr Containing ISIS: What Would George Kennan Do?
Barry Posen rightly argues for a containment strategy. But just as important as what to do is what to avoid.
-
![]()
Osman Orsal / Reuters Negotiate With ISIS
It’s not an alternative to fighting. It's necessary to do both.
-
ISIS Explained in Under 200 Words
The satirist and frequent Atlantic contributor Karl Sharro, who has made it his mission to thoroughly complicate our understanding of…
-
What to Do About ISIS? Cont'd
In the Charlie Rose segment seen above, Graeme joins a round table with Will McCants of Brookings and Ian Fisher…
-
![]()
Nour Fourat / Reuters Contain ISIS
The Paris attacks have naturally prompted calls for a stronger response. But restraint is the better course of action.
-
The New York Times Joins the 'What to Do About ISIS' Debate
“We have been living the Islamic State forwards, surprised at every turn, but we can perhaps begin to understand it…
-
![]()
Bram Janssen / AP ‘How ISIS Spread in the Middle East’: The Response
It’s Sunnis who ultimately hold the key to defeating the Islamic State.
-
![]()
Bassam Khabieh / Reuters The Hidden Danger of Safe Zones in Syria
David Ignatius calls for creating protected areas to save civilians from Assad and ISIS. But that may put the vulnerable at even greater risk.
-
What to Do About ISIS? Cont'd
Since we published the big piece from David Ignatius that primed our ongoing examination of the ISIS conundrum, two other…
-
![]()
Amar Abdullah / Reuters A Syria-First Strategy for Defeating ISIS
Protecting civilians from Assad is the first step toward the settlement David Ignatius deems essential.
-
![]()
Reuters Is There a Sunni Solution to ISIS?
David Ignatius calls for reconciliation among Iraqi Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. But this oversimplifies the bargain that needs to be struck.
-
What to Do About ISIS? Cont'd
Nothing, a reader essentially says in response to the question posed by Uri: It’s weird. EVERYTHING I…
-
What to Do About ISIS? Introducing a New Atlantic Project
Fifty years ago, America’s escalating war in Vietnam came under a degree of scrutiny it had long escaped. In…
