Over my 10 weeks of research I have discovered a lot about my subject, reading about many different perspectives on what ISIS is and how to go about dealing with their influence and acts of terror all over the world. My research started with compiling information about the radical group themselves and evolved into their goals, finally ending in how major superpowers perceived this threat and what tactics were being used to deal with ISIS. In this final post I will be reviewing information I have collected throughout the semester and drawing conclusions on several topics including perspectives on globalization and ISIS’s significance to the Arab spring. But before I do that first I must clearly define ISIS and its goals. ISIS is a jihadist organization that aims to form an Islamic state (caliphate) over the region stretching from Turkey, to Syria, to Egypt, to Jordan and to Lebanon, if not beyond. The group, formed circa 2000, has had many names and iterations, including, most recently, as al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group rebranded itself in 2013 adopting a new name that reflected a more ambitious objective. In February 2014, al-Qaeda expelled ISIS after rejecting al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s demand that it restrict its activities to Iraq. ISIS threatens to dismember Iraq and create a Sunni Islamist state that could launch military operations at other neighboring states, including Lebanon and Jordan. The ascendancy of this extremist organization has profound implications for the security and stability of the region. It exposes just how fractured and unsettled the Middle East is and threatens to spark a broader sectarian conflict. ISIS is headed by Iraqi-born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi is also the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic world. He was associated with Al Qaeda as a religious figure early in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and became the leader of AQI in 2010. Many of ISIS fighters come from the ranks of the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein. Several of Baghdadi’s lieutenants were officers and intelligence officials in the party. Estimates about 12,000 foreigners—as many as 3,000 Westerners—have joined ISIS. Collecting more than ten million US dollars monthly, ISIS is well funded. They make this exuberant amount of money through extortion, the collection of taxes and fees in areas under their control, selling oil from fields it controls, and through looting the homes of people who fled under threat of the militants. ISIS has armed itself with weapons seized from the battlefield in Iraq and Syria. The group has also reportedly received funding from wealthy individuals in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, and Qatar and then used the money to buy arms on the black market. ISIS is not just a small terrorist group restricting its activity to a small region of the world. They are well organized, well trained, and heavily equipped. ISIS is a real threat to the Middle East and nations abroad.
One of the main points that I found myself researching throughout the semester was the threats that ISIS made on nations outside of the Middle East, including the United States. Through the use of social media ISIS has made many threats on nations in Europe, Asia, and America. An example of one specific threat was towards Rome, Italy where videos were posted of ISIS troops on the beach of Libya calling Italy “the nation signed with the blood of the cross.” The video threat, released with images of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt who were beheaded in February, warned that Islamic State forces were “south of Rome,” in Libya. At its closest point, Libya is little more than 100 miles from the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Italian officials fear extremists could enter the country amid the growing tide of refugees arriving by boat from North Africa. About 500 extra troops have been stationed to guard symbolic targets in Rome and monitor the streets of the capital for suspicious activity after specific threats were made toward the Leaning Tower of Pisa. ISIS has even gone as far as to publicly threaten the world’s most powerful countries in Russia and the United States. A video was released by ISIS threatening Russia, stating that they would “liberate Chechnya and the Caucasus.” ISIS also personally threatened President Putin in the video. The message of hate to Putin follows his strong support for Assad, without which he is likely to have been toppled. Putin is also loathed by Islamic extremists and terror groups for crushing attempts to set up an Islamic state in Chechnya, and in other mainly Muslim regions of southern Russia such as Dagestan. ISIS’s threats towards the United States are more numerous than any other threatened nation. ISIS has released several videos, tweets, and blog posts about how they have trained troops throughout the United States. They have specifically threatened places like the Mall of America. These threats are real and should be taken seriously; recently there was an attempted attack in Garland, Texas by ISIS loyalist after blogger Pamela Gellar helped plan a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest. Two armed assailants attempted to enter the function before being shot by an off duty police officer. After the attack ISIS released a statement, “The attack by the Islamic State in America is only the beginning of our efforts to establish a wiliyah (authority or governance) in the heart of our enemy,” the message reads- “Our aim was the khanzeer (pig) Pamela Geller and to show her that we don’t care what land she hides in or what sky shields her; we will send all our Lions to achieve her slaughter.” Seeing that ISIS is a real threat not only in the Middle East, I started to research the reactions and possible solutions these targeted nations, as well as non-state actors such as the United Nations had to these threats.
Many of the nations threatened by ISIS have taken a political realist approach to the threat of ISIS. Military operations have begun to take place, most predominately of all an US led military coalition to remove ISIS influence in Syria. The coalition has grown very large with nations like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan joining the super powers of the United States and Russia. This political realist show of strength is ISIS’s biggest threat to date. The political realist perspective on globalization is the most prevalent in this issue, and in my opinion the only approach towards an extremist group like ISIS. The Islamic state shows no possibility of coming to the table for a diplomatic solution, even more so their terms would undeniably be refuted if they did. This is an interesting case when it comes to perspectives on globalization because ISIS is not a small unorganized terrorist organization, but it is also not a full formed body like a state. It is an ambiguous being with unclear goals that far outreach its capability. The only way to handle an enemy like this is through force. In my research I found some instances of US political theorist stating that the US should not have involvement with ISIS at all, but to leave the action to non-state actors like the United Nations. This is what I would describe as a cosmopolitan perspective on globalization, in that there is no need to further conflict by state military action, but rather let worldwide organizations attempt to quell the efforts of ISIS. In Controversies of Globalization, Charles Duelfer states that there is a need for military intervention when it comes to terrorist groups like ISIS. That if these threats are not answered then organizations like this will continue to spread their influence to unstable nations like ISIS has done with Syria. The Islamic state has definitely shown signs of rapid expansion and seeing the actions that the US has taken, as well as other members of the coalition against ISIS, it is safe to say that they agree with Mr. Duelfer. Contemplating what ISIS is and taking into account the many different opinions and perspectives of globalization, my conclusion is that the route in which states like the US are taking in a joint military effort is the best one. If this circumstance dealt with a solid state with clear borders then a diplomatic solution, a more political liberalist or cosmopolitan approach could be possible, but in this specific instance political realism is the only plausible solution.
Connections between ISIS and the Arab Spring are definitely apparent and worth discussing in my final post. Now remember ISIS is not a subsequent action of the Arab Spring, it has been around long before 2011, but the movement for Islamic liberty has definitely had an effect on the Islamic state. ISIS was revitalized by the events of the Arab Spring, as governments were toppled, dictators removed, and a need for leadership present ISIS expanded rapidly, aggressively taking territories in confusion after the Arab Spring. ISIS used the spring’s emphasis on religion to increase recruitment drastically. An organization like ISIS with its beliefs deeply rooted within a religion controlled and unified state could not have asked for better conditions in which to force its influence on the masses. In the Arab Spring’s wake, Egypt and Tunisia disbanded the security structures that had helped keep jihadists in check, and freed many Islamist and jihadist political prisoners. In Libya, parts of the country fell entirely outside government control, providing openings for violent terrorist movements. ISIS used this chaos to exponentially increase their size and power.
Reflecting over the past semester of research and information learned in class, I have developed the tools necessary to gain a good understanding about the underlying nuances and broader picture when concerning topics like ISIS. I have come to the decisive conclusion through my research and reflection that the circumstances under which ISIS has been able to push its influence as the newest Caliphate could not have been more ideal. That an organization like this one not only causes chaos in order to achieve its goals, but feeds off it as well. Unlike a state, where chaos is detrimental, ISIS with its fluid form and only boundary being religion can grow under conditions that a state cannot. Therefore it is on the shoulders of states not drastically affected by the Arab Spring to handle this extremist organization. As I stated before the political realist actions taken by the US and members of its coalition are the only way to combat a thing like ISIS. I have enjoyed my research and time doing this assignment, taking with me a broader knowledge and perspective on the Middle East.
Kelsie Dancer
