https://www.scmp.com/rss/321797/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Aristotle believed that nature abhors a vacuum. As we have seen in the Middle East in recent years, it is not only nature: politics abhors a vacuum too. The political conflict in Syria, between the regime that has ruled the country for the last 40 years and its varied opponents, directly resulted in the partial collapse of an ordered society, albeit a dictatorial one. In much of Syria, where once there was order and governmental institutions, we find petty principalities briefly ruled by one... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1886338/islamic-state-will-survive-and-thrive-long-war-and-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1886338/islamic-state-will-survive-and-thrive-long-war-and-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:17:57 +0000