Out today: "State Accompli: The Political Consolidation of the Islamic State Prior to the Caliphate" coauthored with the amazing @neas_khan in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (50 free copies here) tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… our question: how did Islamic State overcome its Iraqi Sunni rivals (Ansar, Muj Army, Islamic Army, 1920s, Ba'athists) in quest to establish a caliphate? IS success in Syria often attributed for rise of IS but its political consolidation in Iraq after the Surge is worth studying

New article out today. Thread on the background and some details that were left out of this article due to the normal limitations, and a lack of imagination on my part warontherocks.com/2019/11/caliph… This article is a follow up to an article we called "Don't Kill the Caliph." The intent in that piece was to argue that leaving Abu Bakr in place as Caliph without a caliphate could help weaken the group (considering his disastrous decisions): warontherocks.com/2016/06/dont-k…