Fouad Hussein is a Jordanian journalist and author of the 2005 Arabic language book Al-Zarqawi: The Second Generation of Al Qaeda.
The stage began with the September 11th attacks, which were meant to lure the United States into military conflict in the Middle East.
Al-Qaeda would become more than just an organization, but a popular trend fueled by the American occupation of Iraq and the Arab media through mediums like the Internet.
From 2013 to 2016, Hussein said the Islamic movement would have shifted the balance of power in the Middle East away from the West and Israel, and the Islamists would be supported by new allies such as China.
The removal of the Assad regime - a long-time goal of jihadis - would allow the country to be infiltrated by Al Qaeda, putting the terrorists within reach, at last, of Israel.