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David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

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The Briefing Room: Does IS Need a State?

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23/02/2017

Does IS Need a State?

BBC Radio 4 - The Briefing Room, Does IS Need a State?

What will happen if the Islamic State loses its state? David Aaronovitch investigates.

Series looking at important issues in the news. What happens if the so-called Islamic State is defeated in both Iraq and Syria? David Aaronovitch investigates.

What will happen if the Islamic State loses its state?

The so-called Islamic State is rapidly losing territory, money and fighters in both Iraq and Syria. Iraqi government troops, supported by US and British special forces, have launched an offensive to take back the city of Mosul and an assault on the group's de facto capital city - Raqqa in Syria - is expected by the end of the year. 

Can the group continue to attract jihadi fighters from around the world and inspire attacks in its name, or will it be permanently weakened by the loss of its 'caliphate'? 

If so, could other terrorist organisations benefit from the vacuum it leaves behind? 

David Aaronovitch speaks to a range of experts and asks - can Islamic State be defeated and if so, what happens next?

Guests include: 

Columb Strack, Senior Analyst, Middle East & North Africa at IHS Consulting 

Charlie Winter, Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR)

Hassan Hassan, Senior Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy and co-author of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror 

Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic at the University of Oxford 

Clint Watts, Robert A. Fox Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Program on the Middle East and former FBI Special Agent

Producer: China Collins
Research: Serena Tarling.

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