Containment would place the burden of statehood on ISIS—forcing it to either moderate itself or risk implosion from within. As seen from a recent rebellion plot, the group is under severe strain, but the bankruptcy of its perverse ideology has yet to be fully laid bare and discredited. The crisis in Iraq and Syria has gone on for too long, but a sustainable peace cannot be achieved by defeating ISIS militarily. Successfully containing ISIS within Syria by crafting a common approach among disparate anti-ISIS groups and shoring up local institutions in existing areas promises to be the best step forward.

Hamoon Khelghat-Doost is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Matthew M. Koo is a graduate student researching insurgencies and state building at the University of Chicago.

Image: A Syrian Army ZU-23-2 firing at ISIS positions near the Ithriyah-Raqqa Highway. Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons/Abkhazian Network News Agency