Zhyldyz Oskonbaeva
(RIEAS Senior Advisor & Eurasia Liaison)
Daniel Little
(RIEAS Senior Advisor)
Copyright: @ 2021 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 13 December 2021
Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)
Originally published on 25 July 2015, we made the prediction that ISIS would be in Afghanistan and attempt to subjugate and take over the Taliban. We based this assessment on a number of curious facts. When we started, we found a geographic anomaly in terms of terror allegiance. We started with Africa in the West and worked eastwards towards China. What we found was alternating Yes-No-Yes affiliations between ISIS and al-Qaeda. From Boko Haram in Africa (ISIS),1 to al-Qaeda in the Magreb and points East, this perfect alternating symmetry left us skeptical that both were truly at odds with one another.2 Read more