The ascent of Daesh as a dominant Jihadist organization remains a surprising phenomenon. Its degree of brutality, its sophisticated methods for attracting recruits, its propaganda offense and its ability to mutate in the field form part of a diversified strategy. However, militarily speaking, its strength and power are proportionally lesser than those of its state and non-state enemies. Despite this, compared with the Taliban regime, which fell in a campaign lasting just two months, carried out jointly by Western powers and decentralized Afghan forces, Daesh has proven to be much more resilient. How does it manage to survive?

Omar Ashour is a tenured professor of Security Studies at Exeter University. At present, he is an associate researcher at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, and for five years he was formerly a researcher at the Brookings Institute. He is the author of the book The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements (2009) and a co-author of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission document for Western Asia on reforming the security sector throughout the transition periods in the “Arab Spring.” His other published works cover asymmetrical armed conflicts, Islamist movements, relations between civil power and military power, strategic studies and terrorism. He has advised governments, inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations on transitions out of armed conflicts towards political militancy. He completed his PhD at McGill University and a Master’s degree at the American University of Cairo. 

Pedro Baños Bajo is a Colonel in the Spanish Army (Infantry) and is an Armed Services Certified Staff diploma holder, currently in the reserves. From 1999 to 2001, he was stationed at the office of the Secretariat General of the Army Staff in Madrid. For the next three years, he was the head of Counter-Intelligence and Security with the European Army Corps in Strasbourg. From 2004 to 2010, he taught Strategy and International Relations at the Higher Armed Forces School in Madrid. From 2010 to 2012, he was stationed with the Division of Strategic Affairs and Security, within the Secretariat General of Defense Policy, and as the Area Chief of Geopolitical Analysis. He holds a Master’s degree in Defense and Security from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has taken part in three missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina (UNPROFOR, SFOR and EUFOR).