How ISIS Fights, Informal Institutions, and Navigating Welfare Regimes (S. 10, Ep 21)

POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast

Omar Ashour of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies talks about his latest book, How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, with Marc Lynch on this week's podcast. The book analyses the military and tactical innovations of ISIS and their predecessors in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt. Ashour shows how their capacity to mix conventional military tactics with innovative guerrilla warfare and urban terrorism strategies allowed ISIS to expand and endure beyond expectations. (Starts at 30:52). Max Gallien of the University of Sussex talks about his article, "Informal Institutions and the Regulation of Smuggling in North Africa." (Starts at 0:45). Aytuğ Şaşmaz of the Harvard Kennedy School Middle East Initiative talks about his article, "Navigating welfare regimes in divided societies: Diversity and the quality of service delivery in Lebanon" (co-authored by Melani Cammett). (Starts at 16:22).