The “Sachsen”, "Bayern", and frigates of the German Navy sail during a military exercise in the North Sea on October 13, 2025, near Harstad, Norway. (Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance speaking with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the US embassy in Paris on February 11, 2025. (Getty Images)
Mourners carry the coffins of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala, during a funeral procession on January 4, 2020. (Mohammed Sawaf via Getty Images)
Worshippers take part in a fitness session after prayer in a mosque of the Bagcilar district in Istanbul on February 8, 2024. (Yasin Akgul via Getty Images)
A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service raises the victory gesture as others hold upside-down the black flag of the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq, on June 30, 2017. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
Gloria and Ken Levy Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Aaron Y Zelin
Commentary
Long Read
Caption
Afghan security forces patrol during ongoing clashes between security forces and Islamic State militants in eastern Nangarhar province on July 26, 2016. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads Friday prayer in Tehran, Iran, on October 4, 2024. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)