ISIS

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A review of Charles Lister's The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency (Oxford, 2015).

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Editor's Note: ​Discussion of the Orlando killings has focused on the role of the Islamic State and the self-radicalization of so-called "Lone Wolves." The killings, however, also are an act of unspeakable violence against America's LGBT community. Events as horrific as the Orlando attack are thankfully rare, but violence against the LGBT community is not. D.C.-based analyst Marc Meyer offers an assessment of such violence and how it has changed over in recent years.​

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Until now, Belgium's contribution to the air campaign against ISIS has been limited to strikes on targets in Iraq.  This constraint reflected, at least in part, a sense that the legal case for strikes in Iraq (from a UN Charter perspective) was clear (in light of the consent of the Iraqi government), whereas the legality of strikes in Syria (where the Assad regime did not consent) was murkier.  

As I explained in a New York Times op-ed today, Captain Nathan Smith has gone to court for a declaratory judgment on the legality of President Obama’s undeclared war against the Islamic State. While I encourage readers of Lawfare to read the entire Complaint submitted by David H.