by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
(Research fellow at Middle East Forum's Jihad Intel project)
Copyright: Middle East Forum (www.meforum.org) Republication date on RIEAS (www.rieas.gr) on 28 November 2015
The recent attacks in Paris carried out by the Islamic State have led to widespread speculation about a possible shift in strategy on the part of ISIS. Taken in conjunction with the downing of a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai and the bombings in the predominantly Shia Dahiyeh suburbs of Beirut, it is argued that ISIS is lashing out at the "far enemy" as it comes under pressure on the home fronts in Iraq and Syria, such as its recent loss of control of Sinjar, a town that formed part of a key route connecting the de facto ISIS capitals of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. Read more