The Middle East has been buzzing with diplomatic activities during the past few months. World leaders are shuttling between capitals of key regional powers particularly Riyadh. As a result of these activities, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey have increased their involvement in the international coalition against the self-ascribed Islamic State (IS). This is something worth pausing over, as it represents a major turning point in relations between four of the most important countries in the region concerned with the outcome of the ongoing conflict in Syria — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan— and provides an opportunity for the Kingdom to play a central role here.
All this diplomatic activity cannot be detached from the state of the ties the countries in the region currently have with others outside it, particularly those from Western Europe and the United States. All the recent meetings and joint statements between representatives from countries in the region and those visiting from outside it show complete consistency in terms of the positions held by both, with all this taking place within the context of the efforts against IS, which have now become a kind of blueprint for the war against terror as such.
The recent diplomatic efforts should not also be detached from efforts to increase military cooperation between the regional members of the coalition. The kind of military cooperation I’m talking about also resembles that offered by the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar to train and equip the moderate armed opposition in Syria. It also resembles recent efforts by the French to market their own Rafale fighter jets to coalition members the UAE and Egypt to bomb the IS targets — and, in fact, Egypt is using Rafales it has purchased from France in its air offensive against IS in Libya.
But amid all the meetings and diplomatic activity, it would seem the main aim here is to expand the current fight into an international war against all terror groups around the world, and not just IS, using the current fight as a springboard to defeat first IS in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and anywhere else it rears its ugly head — and then its other sinister cousins.
By most accounts the air raids currently being carried out against IS need serious bolstering. Such moves could include the formation of a regional military force to fight IS in the region, which would represent a major strategic turning point in the conflict so far because it is impossible to defeat and destroy this group without direct confrontation involving ground troops. From here we can look to train domestic fighting groups such as the Kurdish Peshmerga and arm them with enough weapons and ammunition to enable them to really take the fight to IS, as is happening right now among the Syrian armed opposition.
But this would still not be enough to really take the fight against the group to the next level. In addition to these measures, the world needs to step up efforts to cut off financing to IS, stem the tide of fighters joining the group from around the globe, and effectively monitor and sabotage its much talked-about media campaigns.
The international coalition against IS, led by the US, took its initial form in the shape of targeted airstrikes against the group in Syria and Iraq. But it was soon realized that the airstrikes would not be enough, that the fight needed to be widened. When these changes came, positive results followed — but there are yet further steps that can be taken.
First among them in terms of importance is of course widening the scope of the military offensive against ISIS to include other terrorist – extremist groups as well. This would mandate expanding the target list so it also includes the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad — certainly no stranger to the “terrorist” label since this conflict began and whose regime we know has been involved closely with terrorist groups.
The second step would involve offering humanitarian aid and assistance to the people living in territory under IS’ control and to help to normalize everyday life for them once again. The third meanwhile requires planning and launching anti-extremist media campaigns.
The war on terror groups is a crucial one, and what is most crucial about it is that it be a wide-ranging and comprehensive fight, garnering the support and involvement of the largest possible slice of the international community and using all weapons, military or otherwise, at our disposal. If this is not achieved then the war on terror will not succeed in defeating a single one of these groups, and the fight will go on longer, giving enough time for the terror groups of today to hatch, like Al-Qaeda did before them with IS and Al-Nusrah, the terror groups of tomorrow.
• The writer is a Syrian journalist and member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition.
