Barkley Rosser — The End Of The "Islamic State."

Barkley Rosen explained how the US papers of record, the New York Times and the Washington Post, not only got it wrong but also imposed their view on the media echo chamber based on their authoritative position as papers of record.

Econospeak
The End Of The "Islamic State."
J. Barkley Rosser | Professor of Economics and Business Administration James Madison University

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — The Islamic State 'Masterplan' of Administration- Some Analytical Notes

The Guardian today has a huge story based on a 'masterplan' text I leaked to the paper entitled 'Principles in the Administration of the Islamic State'. The text- likely written at some point between June and October 2014- concerns a variety of aspects of administration, including management of oil resources, composition of military ranks and propaganda. You can read the whole text, which I translated, here.

The sign-off notably says that admin cadres are to receive instruction in administration according to the text. The question then arises of how far the Islamic State is actually following this administrative plan. Here are a few thoughts of my own...

Pundicity
The Islamic State 'Masterplan' of Administration- Some Analytical Notes
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
ht/ Pepe Escobar

As'ad AbuKhalil — Some observations about the carnage in Paris

View from the perspective of an Arab leftist.

The Angry Arab New Service
Some observations about the carnage in Paris
As'ad AbuKhalil | Professor of Political Science, California State University, Stanislaus

ht lastgreek in the comments

Pepe Escobar — The Caliph at the gates of Vienna

History has a jolly habit of repeating itself as surrealist farce. Is it 1683 all over again, with the Ottoman Empire laying siege to Vienna just to be defeated by the “infidels” at the last minute?

No; it’s 2015 and a Caliph simulacrum – Ibrahim, a.k.a. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — has prompted a gaggle of world powers, lesser powers and assorted minions to converge to Vienna to discuss how to defeat him.

Westphalians, we got a problem. None of this makes any sense if Iran is not at the table discussing a solution for the Syrian tragedy. Moscow knew it from the start. Washington — reluctantly — had to admit the obvious. But the problem was never Iran. The problem is the ideological matrix of goons who metastasize into Caliphs: Saudi Arabia.…

Asia Times
The Caliph at the gates of Vienna

Pepe Escobar

TASS — Islamic State militants plan to set up their own currency

The coins will be minted from pure gold and silver as it was done in early Islam

TASS
Islamic State militants plan to set up their own currency

Yochi Dreazen — From Electricity to Sewage, U.S. Intelligence Says the Islamic State Is Fast Learning How to Run a Country

Rag-tag insurgents doing what the US has been unable to do in years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"ISIS is the most dangerous terrorist group in the world because they combine the fighting capabilities of al Qaeda with the administrative capabilities of Hezbollah," said David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert who spent several years working as a top aide to Gen. David Petraeus during the height of the Iraq War. "It's clear that they have a state-building agenda and an understanding of the importance of effective governance."

Foreign Policy

From Electricity to Sewage, U.S. Intelligence Says the Islamic State Is Fast Learning How to Run a Country
Yochi Dreazen