MESOP TODAY ANALYSIS : Leaders Meet in Paris to Discuss ISIS Threat / RESSOURCE PERSONS

“Because ISIS is quite entrenched in both Iraq and Syria, it will take a long time to build up Iraqi capabilities to take them on, and it will take an even longer time to build up ground capabilities inside Syria. So we’re going to need a diplomatic effort that will, among other things, gradually increase the participants in any coalition and the significance of what the participants bring to the efforts, particularly inside Syria,” says CFR President Richard N. Haass.

“The risk of ‘leading from behind’ is that it leaves the US dependent on the efforts of its partners. If they do not succeed, Mr Obama could find himself sucked into the ground war in Iraq he staked his presidency on ending,” writes Geoff Dyer for the Financial Times.

“Mr Obama thus needs to show a commitment to sustained personal diplomacy that has so far been lacking in his presidency. He also needs to demonstrate the potency of American firepower—to give countries pause before turning their backs on him. But most of all, a president who wanted to focus on home needs the resolve to stay the course abroad,” writes the Economist.