brimfullofasher

1. Does ISIS really have the strength and momentum to become a serious power player in the ME?

2. If so, do you think Jordan should be worried as the next country on their list?

3. A number of people have compared the current ME crises to the European religious wars (30 years' war), do you think that is a fair comparison?

4. If so, do you think peace might be achieved by some sort of neo-Westphalian agreement, in which each particular identity (Shia, Sunni, Kurd, Alawite, Christian, etc.) is given sovereignty over its own national/religious state?

Thanks for replying.

I wasn't saying that it is necessarily a traditional religious war, but that the comparisons to the 30 years war are there. In the sense that there are a number of strong identities fighting each other across a number of different countries, not necessarily through any formal armies or declarations of war.

Where every civilian is potentially both a target and combatant, where every region is a potential battle ground, and at any time. There is a much more in-depth discussion of this in Hardt & Negri's Multitude.