the middle east will be messed up for decades.

The Islamic State could eventually lose control of Raqqa, but it is expected to regroup in remote areas, such as Al Bukamal and Al Qaim, along the Syria-Iraq border. The movement may be disrupted, but US officials concede that it will be almost impossible to totally dismantle it. An end to Syria’s wider 6-year war—in any way that both stabilizes one of the most important geostrategic countries in the Middle East and favors US interests—also seems increasingly remote. And the quest for a caliphate goes on. “Al Qaeda might lay claim to it for a moment, and the Islamic State may lay claim to it, but there’s always been this dream of recapturing and bringing back the caliphate. Who’s going to tap into that next?”

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