Seth G. Jones is senior vice president, Harold Brown Chair, and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His latest book is Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran and the Rise of Irregular Warfare.
An Israeli tank sits on a dusty hill along a fence in southern Israel. The damaged buildings of the Gaza Strip fill the landscape in the distance. Some buildings have been entirely leveled; others are barely standing, with their windows blown out and walls crumbling.
Iraqi pro-government forces advance towards the village of Sin al-Dhuban, south of Mosul, on October 27, 2016, during an operation to retake the main hub city from the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.
A US general told AFP that between 800 and 900 Islamic State group fighters have been killed since the Iraqi-led operation to recapture Mosul from the jihadists began. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
