The Sunni Islamist terror group ISIS - Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - poses a threat to the whole region. In its latest advance through Iraq, it has overrun several cities including the country's second largest, Mosul. The jihadis have profited from the fact that many Sunnis feel marginalised by the Shia-dominated central government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In many cases the population has welcomed - or at least not resisted - the advance of ISIS.

The Kurds - with their Peshmerga forces - in the north of the country are defending their region. But they also regard the advance of ISIS as an opportunity to assert - and even increase - their autonomy with respect to Baghdad.

Meanwhile, an unusual alliance seems to be emerging between arch-enemies: the United States and Iran. Washington and Tehran both support the Maliki government. Neither has an interest in seeing Sunni extremists on the rise. The US has already sent warships to the Persian Gulf, and even soldiers to protect the US embassy in Baghdad.

President Obama has so far ruled out a military intervention in the form of ground troops. But can the onward march of the Islamists towards Baghdad be stopped without help from outside Iraq? How stable would a US-Iranian alliance be? And what does Maliki need to do to unite Sunnis and Kurds in the struggle against ISIS, and to prevent Iraq from falling apart?

Iraq and Beyond - Time for New Alliances?

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Our guests:

Amir Musawy - is the Berlin correspondent for Iraqia TV. He studied media and political science in Bonn, Germany, and has reported for Associated Press in London. Musawy has worked for the Iraqi foreign ministry and several NGOs in his capacity as a political scientist and media consultant. He has taught Media & Communication at the University of Minsk in Belarus.

Andrew B. Denison - isthe director of ”Transatlantic Networks”, a research consortium based in Königswinter, Germany. His main emphasis lies on international and domestic security policy focusing particularly on the Obama administration and the USA’s second century, the relationship between US and European economic policies, the future of NATO, Moore’s Law and future security policy.

Michael Lüders – Born in Bremen, in 1959, Lüders studied Arabic literature in Damascus as well as Islamic studies, political science and publishing in Berlin. His dissertation focused on the Egyptian cinema. His works include documentaries for German public television and a long stint as Middle East correspondent for the “Die Zeit” newspaper. Lüders lives in Berlin, working as a political adviser, publicist and author on middle eastern issues.