The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger

Only five years ago, al Qaeda’s downfall appeared imminent. Its founder and leader was dead. A succession of key lieutenants had been eliminated. And the region was transformed by the Arab Spring. Civil protest, it seemed, had achieved what terrorism had manifestly failed to deliver - and al Qaeda was the biggest loser. As John O. Brennan, then deputy national security advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and assistant to the president, told an audience gathered at a DC think tank in April 2012, “For the first time since this fight began, we can look ahead and envision a world in which the al Qaeda core is simply no longer relevant.”

"The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger" is from foreignaffairs.com, published on March 29, 2016

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