Clearly more could, and should, have been done to prevent the rise of IS. It is an organization born, initially, of the turmoil in Syria whose rise could be have been stymied by a more determined international response to the civil war there. In particular, the international community should have done more to support Kofi Annan’s peace plan in 2012, a plan that enjoyed the backing of the UN Security Council and the nominal support of the parties but which geopolitics allowed to wither on the vine. The world could also have done more to demand accountability for crimes against the civilian population by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court to send a strong signal that there would be no impunity. More should also have been done to stem the flow of arms into the hands of little known non-state armed groups in Syria. Pouring fuel indiscriminately onto the fire is seldom a recipe for better civilian protection, though as a last resort targeted support to well-trusted groups can boost local protection efforts as the Kurdish defense of Kobane shows. In Iraq, more could and should have been done to temper the government’s sectarian politics and integrate the county’s Sunnis into the new Iraq.