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How should ISIS respond to multiple pressures on the Caliphate?
Summary
The Caliphate is an Islamic State led by a Caliph who is a supposed successor of
Prophet Mohammed. The Caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) wants to
increase the territory currently controlled by the Caliphate and recruit more members
but faces resistance from other members of the conflict. ISIS is currently engaged in a
war with several Syrian organizations including its government as well as with Turkey,
USA, Iran and Russia. The current method is to recruit more followers of ISIS from
around the West as well as the Islamic World and fight to gain more territory around Iraq
and Syria. A proposal is to change tactics and instead, attempt to take over other states
currently with unprotected fronts such as Jordan, Lebanon or Egypt. This would allow
for less states to back the current one engaging with ISIS as well as more territory and
control for ISIS. Another proposal is to increase the use of “sleeper cells” in the West.
Background
ISIS since its inception has always been engaged with conflict. It was primarily a
rebel group funded by the USA to disrupt the Syrian government. Since the Syrian
Government allies itself with Russia and Iran and has fought them even now. Once the
rebel group broke away from US influence and formed the Islamic State, it positioned
itself against the West and Turkey as well. Because the states of Syria and Iraq have
been destabilized by wars against the West, ISIS quickly took control of those two
states and those territories are what currently make up the Islamic State. ISIS has since
attempted with success to recruit new members through the internet and tries to appeal
towards confused Muslims living in the West as well as Arab countries.
Policy Options
Now that Russia is building up its military more and more and returning to its past
glory, it has been harder for ISIS to win in military confrontations with them or their allies
in Iran or the Syrian government. A new approach is suggested and it is that instead of
turning towards Syria or Iraq, ISIS turns towards Jordan or Lebanon instead. Although
those two states have aligned themselves with the other factions against the Caliphate,
they aren’t expecting an attack by ISIS directly. A military attack would catch them off
guard and give ISIS more territory to work with. A downside to this approach is that this
could be costly and we would lose a fair about of recruits. Another approach is that we
could build up sleeper cells within large Western cities such as Paris or Amsterdam.
Doing so would allow up to build secret bases within Western countries and allow us to
take control to Western countries from the inside. The downside to this is that it could
prove difficult to pull off a successful attack in hostile territory.
Recommendations
These approaches are recommended because they would allow us to pull off
attacks that might catch our current enemies off guard. The last thing any opposing
faction would suspect is an attack on either the west of Syria and Iraq or within the West
itself. However, I recommend that we build up our forces through more recruitment first,
as our numbers are insufficient right now, especially for the plan to destabilize the West
from within. We need recruits to build up the sleeper cells anyway. I would also
recommend that if a choice needed to be made, our opposition would be the West as
their general population cannon come to a consensus on how to deal with ISIS. Many
Westerners are pro-Islam and would be indifferent to the buildup of a Muslim population
in their countries, which would make it easier to carry out an operation against them.
This would be different for Russia.
Conclusion
The fact is that the current approach isn’t working and that the caliphate needs to
re-strategize. A good plan to catch the West or Russia off guard is what ISIS needs in
order to expand its caliphate. Now that the West seems to be receding in power while
getting into more confrontations with Russia and Iran, now is the perfect time to make a
move.
Peer Response Checklist – Global Issues
✓ Identify the recommended policy in the executive summary?
✓ To what extent does the author follow the appropriate structure of a policy recommendation:
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Executive Summary: summary of problem and solution
Body-Background: current policy/History of the issue/context
Body-Policy Options: Why current policy isn’t working/Policy Options/Risks for each. Identify at least two
or more options
Body-Recommendations: Argue Policy Proposal
Conclusion: Summarize again the argument/Add appendices (if necessary)
✓ Are book titles in italics (e.g. Global Issues: An Introduction)?
✓ Where in the text does the author use “I” or “me”? First person should not be used unless personal
experiences contribute to the argument.
✓ To what degree does the author use “international English,” that is, without any slang or
colloquialisms?
✓ How do paragraphs break about the narrative into separate ideas and themes (e.g. introduction, 3-4
paragraphs, conclusion)? Each paragraph should incorporate a separate theme and follow MEAL
(Main idea, Evidence or Examples, Analysis of evidence or why evidence important, Links to the rest
of the paper) criteria.
✓ Identify any contractions (e.g. weren’t or don’t) or acronyms that have not been written out? It is
better to write out the entire word instead of a contraction.
✓ What concepts and terms from the class are used? Papers should do this in order to demonstrate
competency in the class materials.
✓ Identify whether the writer employs broad generalizations or concrete examples? Using specific
examples, situations, etc. are better than generalizations.
✓ How are assertions backed by direct quotations form the book or by citations from other sources?
All papers should include sources from at least the following: one government or intergovernmental organization; one think tank, the text book, and one peer-reviewed journal.
✓ How are in-text citations [author-year-page, e.g. “(Flynn 2017: 55-57)”] connected to the
bibliography at the end of the paper? Follow APA style for guidelines for the bibliography:
Source
Book
Book Chapter
Peer-Reviewed Article
Internet Source
Government or InterGovernmental
Organization
Example
Seitz, John L. and Kristen H. Hite. (2012). Global Issues: An
Introduction. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
Nanda, S. (2012). Arranging a Marriage in India. In S. Hirschberg & T.
Hirschberg (Eds.), One World, Many Cultures (8th ed., pp. 424–433).
Boston: Pearson.
Flynn, M. B. (2016). From Bare Life to Bureaucratic Capitalism:
Analyzing the Growth of the Immigration Detention Industry as a
Complex Organization. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social
Justice, 8(1), 70–97.
OpenSecrets.org. (2016). Lobbying Database. Retrieved March 8,
2016, from https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/
WHO & UNHCHR. (2008). The Right to Health: Fact Sheet No. 31.
Geneva: World Health Organization and Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved May 9,
2011, from
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Factsheet31.pdf