The unending Syrian civil war and the accompanying rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have generated a profound crisis for the peoples of the region and its neighbours. State collapse and multiple insurgencies have generated mass displacements, generalised destruction and social involution. Regional powers have played a central role in the unfolding of these events, as are increasingly Russian and American military and diplomatic forces.

In this debate, a panel of experts drawn from the Birkbeck Politics faculty will analyse and assess the origins and dynamics of the crisis. Why is ISIL so successful in its Western recruitment? How are new military and communications technologies shaping the regional conflict? Can ISIL be defeated? What are the possible solutions to the Syrian civil war? Does ISIL fragment and weaken or focus and reenergise global jihadi struggle? What explains the new sectarianism in the Middle East that ISIL is also a manifestation of? Will this crisis further entrench mistrust between Washington and Moscow, or is this an opportunity to activate collective security? These are some of the questions the panel addresses.

Panel: Ed Bacon, Matthijs van den Bos, Antoine Bousquet, Rob Singh, Barbara Zollner

Chair: Alex Colás

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