Antonia Dimou,
(Senior Advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies, Greece, and Lecturer at Webster University, Athens Campus)
Copyright: http://www.cceia.unic.ac.cy Publication date on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 1 November 2015
The conduct of two separate airstrikes in Syria, led by the United States and Russia respectively, comes as part of a strategy to defeat and degrade the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in pursuance of revisiting the international response to the Syrian conflict. The prolonged neglect of the conflict in Syria has admittedly created power vacuums, paving the way for extremist groups to gain and control territory. The prospect of de facto territorial divisions is a reported reality with territory under control of ISIL; territory held by the Assad regime; and territory controlled by enclaves of diverse fighter groups. Read more