Publication

This paper contends that in the wake of Jabbat al Nusra renaming itself Jabbat Fatah al Sham, and thereby signaling its break from core al-Qaeda, the wider US policy establishment has pushed hard to help this jihadi group overthrow the Syrian government and subsequently establish an Islamic state. The text’s author also argues that Al Nusra’s re-branding will further empower the entire coalition of the Conquest Army, where Nusra (aka al Sham) cooperates closely with the anti-Chinese Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and other Central Asian jihadists. Needless to say, this cooperation may soon raise hackles in China.