A Tale of Two Caliphates: Al-Qaida and its Associated Movement vs. the Islamic State and its Associated Movement

In August 2014, William Braniff briefed members of the intelligence community, and subsequently published a short piece via the START newsletter titled "A Tale of Two Caliphates." Here, he revisits that paper to see where we are, just over a year later. He also explores the contours of the competition between AQAM and ISAM, from their strategy, to their operations, to their vision for the caliphate, and discusses some implications.