World War III?

Pope Frances has raised a concern that the Islamic State could spark a third world war. Nayan Chanda, the founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, points to a parallel: international powers, with major differences over strategy, targeting the extremists in Syria and Iraq. Aerial bombing alone won’t deter the 32,000 or so Islamic State extremists, an estimate from the CIA, or their ideology. Major powers outside the region resist sending in ground troops and reviving claims about a war against Islam. “The geographic spread aside, the assaults on Paris show that Daesh has metastasised into a new type of multinational terror group,” Chanda explains. “For the first time, European suicide bombers have blown themselves up signalling a radical change in the type of indoctrination they have undergone. Their act of self-sacrifice for an apocalyptic cause raises serious new concerns that cannot be addressed by bombing buildings in Syria.” The world wars of the 20th century involved nations pursuing expansionist goals, while transnational terrorism thrives in lands with a power vacuum. – YaleGlobal