The “Caliphate’s” Colonies: Islamic State’s Gradual Expansion into North Africa
For Spiegel, Mirco Keilberth, Juliane von Mittelstaedt, and Christoph Reuter discuss the effects of ISIS’ expansion into Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt. “Should Islamic State (IS) manage to establish control over a significant portion of Libya, it could trigger the destabilization of the entire Arab world.” ISIS emerged in Libya as a group of fighters returning from Syria. Eventually, hundreds of citizens and some local governments proclaimed their loyalty to the “caliph.” A young Libyan activist said, “Eastern Libya is hardly any different from Syria or Iraq.”