ISIS/ISIL/IS is Only a Tactical Theater Change - The Strategic Theater Change Awaits

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Dec 15, 2014 at 19:20

The world is definitely, and definitively changing, especially as there is seen a certain adaptation towards the paradox of merging and diverging ideologies which have complicated any sense of progress of peace, if any; and especially since political efforts are more easily seen as posturing for both offensive and defensive preparations against the obvious impending worldwide cataclysm. Part of this is the dialogue that seems to obfuscate the part of Islam in causing virtually all parts of the world to hyperventilate in the face of unmitigated Muslim sensibilities coming their way.

There have been uncounted discussions of 'moderate' Islam being a force that could conceivably help to deal with the extremism now laid at Islam's door; and yet no one yet has been able to demonstrate with complete confidence that Islam will be anything else than what the extremists are desiring – a worldwide caliphate. Couple that with a merging Christianesque ecumenical presence, in which a modern sense of the crusades is developing in some quarters, then one might get the idea that the earlier referenced cataclysm is not only possible, but inevitable.

Michael S. postulates that five great powers are emergent upon a scene in which any potential thrust towards world domination could be underscored by nuclear threat, a circumstance that could have been deferred by a deterrent at one time, but is now only complicated by multiple threat sources and that number is going to increase. Nuclear power threats are not limited by the five he alludes to, but they are the big ones, to be sure. The questions is: will they be able to confront militant Islamist powers as it is seen continuing to emerge into the western mindset with ineffective moral turpitude when Iran finally gains the bargaining chip it so desperately seeks to change the Middle East dynamic?

A change in Islam is definitely not going to make things better; they that practice being fundamentalist Muslims cannot abide even the moderate practice, eventually a call to reform or die will be the challenge. They will get to them once they think Christianity is reduced to dhimmitude. In the meantime, the dialogue in the background is how to wrestle with the Israeli's and that is a dynamic that has the Middle East twisted and contorted in ways that will make the Cold War looks like a game of Risk. In that event, the world will not be able to extricate any sense of peace, not until they realize from the onset of 1948, they had already lost the war; only the residuals of the inestimable losses expected to be sustained remain for the eulogies to be written.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".