Written evidence on situation in Iraq and Syria, submitted by Dr Lars Berger to UK House of Commons Defence on Defence

More effective support for the Kurdish and Syrian opposition is necessary to fight the threat of ISIS and to move the Syrian conflict toward a possible solution by helping to unite a fractured political opposition and by changing Iran’s calculus on the long-term benefits of supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The eventual success of military efforts undertaken by the UK government and its Western and regional partners in rolling back ISIS influence on the ground will facilitate the group’s transformation into a transnational movement mirroring al-Qaeda and thus increase the risk of terrorist attacks in the wider Middle East and the West. Any long-term strategy to fight ISIS and other Islamist extremist groups must involve the development of more inclusive religious discourses and the opening of political space for secular liberals and moderate Islamists across the Arab world