Week 4: ISIS - What, Who & Why?

1/26/2016

Each student will select one of the three articles below. Use the SWOT tool to describe the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats associated with ISIS and the way it was reported on. Think critically and be sure to take notes while reading. You are required to include 3 quotes from the textbook in your original post. The purpose of the SWOT is to analyze the strategies and perspectives against ISIS.

Huffington Post Article
New York Times Article
CNN Article

Understanding how to develop your SWOT.

Clearly define the objective of the analysis, the purpose of the analysis, the decision(s) that the information from the analysis will help you make.
The object of the analysis can be a new product, a program you want to offer, a service you want to develop, a research project idea, a plan for allocation of scarce resources, an aspirational goal for your unit, any desired end state.
The four aspects of the SWOT analysis have been defined in a number of ways, but for our purposes the following explanations seem useful:
- Strengths – attributes of the news article that likely will be helpful to and have a positive effect on the achievement of the desired end state (the object of the analyses as defined above). Strategies to capitalize on these strengths can be developed.
- Weaknesses – attributes of the news article that likely will have a negative effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to minimize the effects of these weaknesses can be developed.
- Opportunities – conditions external to the news article that likely will have a positive effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to exploit these opportunities can then be identified.
- Threats – conditions external to the reporting agency and/or a nation that likely will have a negative effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to defend against these threats can be identified.

Original Posts 250 words (minimum). Respond to three other students 50 words (minimum). Original post due Thursday @ midnight. Responses (3) due Sunday @ midnight.

83 Comments

Mark De Martini

1/27/2016 01:39:39 pm

9/11 was a reminder that the international order that had come into being as a result was not one found ready acceptance everywhere (pg. 55) ISIS is an emerging threat to that order but exactly what are ISIS's characteristics? It's important to assess ISIS's capabilities using SWOT analysis. If an accurate assessment is made it's possible to devise a strategy to either weaken and minimize ISIS, or destroy it as an organization. The New York Times article offered very usable information. ISIS is well organized with a mature governmental structure. Military, intelligence and internal security functions under the ISIS Cabinet is most likely cellular and insular. Local leaders (deputies) control their districts and many of them are experienced having served in Saddam Hussain's military. ISIS control vast territories in Syria and Iraq. Along with the terrain ISIS is able to exploit 1-2 million a day in oil sales derived from its fields. ISIS is extremely well financed. ISIS is no longer a terrorist organization but must be seen as de-facto nation. Their weaknesses are many. ISIS needs to control territory to maintain a permissive operational environment. Oil is their only real source of income. They are a Sunni based organization and a minority in the region. ISIS is hated for its use of terrorism to maintain local order. Terrorism has earned ISIS many enemies. The end state should be the destruction of ISIS. Fundamentalist religious groups reject the legitimacy of a government,(pg. 207), so containing them will not achieve a desired outcome. ISIS will persist to grow unless completely defeated. Opportunities are also many. It isn't difficult to put together a strong coalition unfiled to destroy ISIS. Iraq still has a military that can be built up offensively with committed U.S. support. The oil can be embargoed and the production destroyed by air raids. It will take a strong military commitment but destroying a standing force of 35,000 is something the U.S. military is expert at. However, defeat of Al Qaeda (and ISIS) will not be achieved by military counterterrorism, but by global political change that delegitimizes fundamentalism and violence (pg. 208). A second military invasion of Iraq could delegitimize the U.S. cause to overthrow ISIS. Limited special forces operations using proxies and airpower would reduce the U.S. military footprint and collateral damage. A robust psychological campaign denouncing Jihad must be established to change the mindset of those who would use religion as a vehicle to commit terrorism. ISIS is a powerful local threat to Syrians and Iraqis, and in two years time it successfully targeted Europe and the United States with terrorist attacks using newly immigrated radicalized Islamists. The fact that much of this ISIS radicalization was conducted over the internet is a real cause for concern underscoring the ISIS threat and justifying the need to eliminate ISIS as an organization.

Michael Stevens

1/28/2016 05:48:02 pm

I agree with many of your points. I agree that terrorism should not be fought with counter-terrorism but by "global political change." Also, I agree that ISIS is hated because of its use of brute force to maintain order. However, in my comparative government course, we learned that sometimes brute force from a strong government is necessary for a new government to stabilize a chaotic country. Hopefully, with statehood and positive diplomatic relations, their use of force would wain. Otherwise, according to Marx, the oppressed will eventually rise up against their oppressors. Good job.

Sharelle Smith

1/31/2016 10:12:22 pm

I do agree that the support is there to combat Isis. The citizens in Syria and Iraq are tired of them. The message that they spread about their motives being religious aren't consistent. We also need to make sure we don't give them room to grow by creating more victims. The U.S will probably blow up a few or couple oil rigs but not too many because we use those to.

Madalyn Hart

1/31/2016 11:42:56 pm

I like your post! I wasnt aware of just how much ISIS depends on gaining more followers via the internet. I knew that they did, but your comment made me look up more about it. This makes it that much harder to eliminate them, but i agree with you that it needs to be done, and quickly.

Misa

2/2/2016 05:21:03 pm

Hey, Mark. No class today. Can you let people know if you know the number? Thank you.

Mary Rasooli

2/9/2016 05:55:12 pm

HEY ALL! There is class tonight 2/9!!

Thu-Thao Ho

1/28/2016 12:02:41 am

Isis is an organization Steven L. Lamy would describe as driven by the ideologies of postmodern or "new" terrorism (269). According to postmodern terrorism, Isis is emerging as a group that abides to the constructive international relations theory where religion is the heart of its structure as well as incentives.
A major strength in Isis is using religion by means of recruiting new members into their terrorist organization, Lamy states that people are "motivated by promises of rewards in the afterlife, some terrorists are driven by religious reasons to kill as many nonbelievers and unfaithful as possible (269)". Isis has found a way to tap into the minds of minority groups as well religious supporters around the globe by producing propaganda persuading individuals that the fundamentalist Islamic state vision will promise equality, and ensures going to heaven for killing nonbelievers.
The Isis government itself as presented in the New York Times is organized such that it fits the image of a stable government. The organization has has a military, financial stability, and large amounts of territory that can be expanded.
However, a huge weakness is their oil dependency, which requires Isis to continue their expansion of land. If their expansion is unsuccessful, inevitably they will not attain enough of the resource to finance their efforts. Another weakness would be using violence to achieve goals. Isis has hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry all of which were stolen from other nations. If weaponry was enforced according to stricter guidelines and regulations, weapons belonging to foreign military for national security would not end up in the wrong hands, and be used for unconstitutional purposes by terrorist groups. Without weaponry Isis would have no method of interrogating the people to follow the Isis laws.
The end state is to defeat the Isis terrorist group as a whole. There are opportunities for the US to target their oil mines peacefully. By persuading nations around the globe to deter from the dependence from oil produced and sold by Isis, Isis would lose finances to continue their expansion. Another point is to defeat the belief that holds Isis together. Isis is built upon the belief that killing a nonbeliever would grant afterlife. The US as well as nations worldwide should make it aware to the public that acts of violence do not constitute to positive outcomes. A belief should not involve the loss of a life for a life. "Terrorism is characterized, first and foremost, by the use of violence" (Lamy, 260), in order to defeat the organization, we must first target the first building block that gave it a powerful foundation.
Major threats still reside in nations producing small arms that can be trafficked by terrorist groups such as Isis. Small arms have led the longest line of harms to national security as well as human rights. Nations such as the United States, Russia, France, and the UK exported a total of $50.6 billion dollars in arms as of 2007(SIPRI, 2008). In order to defend against illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, the United Nations must implement the terms of the international small arms control standards (ISACS) in order to increase transparency measures. If all weapon transfers were accurately reported by member states, disarmament would be more evident, and terrorist groups such as ISIS would not easily attain hazardous ammunition to expand their reign of violence.

Michael Stevens

1/28/2016 06:03:44 pm

I like a lot of the comments you make. I agree that a global effort to combat the philosophy of killing as a religious action is needed in order to take power away from ISIS. What your response brought to my attention is the role that poverty plays in ISIS. Even though around half of all ISIS members are foreign-born, there appears to be an inseparable link between ISIS and the poor, even if it just confined to regional dynamics. Good job.

Mary Rasooli

1/28/2016 08:42:05 pm

Good job mentioning that although ISIS is said to have a stable source of power and is concrete in its leadership, that their oil dependency is really a huge weakness. The oil is their financial source and without that, their agenda cannot be further pushed and acheived.

Sharelle smith

1/31/2016 10:20:48 pm

I do believe Thu-Thao Ho that we are in fact fighting a new type of war. Isis has tapped in and used various kinds of technologies to communicate. It's basically being discovered everyday. They even use chat rooms where people play games to communicate. So the strategy for limiting communication for them definitely has changed. Also when the same countries that you here are supporting the war on terror are some how helping Isis traffic supplies it's disheartening.

Madalyn Hart

1/31/2016 11:45:19 pm

I agree that the U.S and other countries could work together in eliminating ISIS via not using ISIS's oil. I had not thought of this method until you mentioned it, but it seems like a much better option than bombing them (could lead to innocent lives being lost, and even more future violence).

Michael Stevens

1/28/2016 01:53:48 pm

The objective of the analysis was to provide an educated American audience with the organizational structure and funding for ISIS. The purpose of the analysis is to highlight how organized and well-funded the organization is. Previously, media and governments have underestimated this group, and the article attempts to establish the group as a legitimate threat. The decisions that the information from the analysis will help people make is how serious the ISIS situation is in the Middle East. Rather than painting ISIS as a loose group of rag-tag soldiers, the article reveals how ISIS is more like a well-oiled (pun intended) machine. The credibility of ISIS as a major threat in the region is an aspirational goal for the newspaper column. For people to take a more serious stance on ISIS and take action, the organization must first have the perception of being a legitimate threat.

The strengths of the news article is that it will help people take ISIS more seriously. With an brief explanation of its organizational structure, recruitment success, and extensive funding, the article successfully pictures ISIS as an organization that deserves to be the object of international attention. It does a good job of providing its readers with a sense of ISIS legitimacy. The weaknesses of the article include a lack of in-depth organizational structure as well as a more detailed history of that structure. However, a more in-depth analysis does not appear to be the purpose of the article as it is primarily a visual-based article; but, it provides links to additional articles for readers to expand their knowledge of the subject. External to the news article, the public may put pressure on politicians to intervene in the Middle East in order to curb the expansion of ISIS. With more perceived legitimacy for ISIS, people and politicians will more likely demand action. Conditions external to the reporting agency that may have a negative effect on the desired state is that it may help push the United States to become further involved in the Middle East; this course of action will result in more national debt and more Americans being killed, and further intervention may increase the likelihood for yet another terrorist organization to spring up and take its place.

Some issues that the news article calls attention to its readers is a brief postmodern feminist critique of ISIS. Postmodern feminism argues that sex and gender are both constructed concepts (Lamy 120). The article points out that all women are forced to cover their hair and face in public under the threat of violence. But, how about women who do not identify as women or men who identify as women? This steers the conversation to that of postcolonial feminism. Postcolonial feminism argues for female equality worldwide while acknowledging that the Westernized version of freedom may not apply to all cultures (Lamy 120). This is evident in the discussion of the veil in Islamic societies like ISIS. In fact, there have been arguments from Muslim women that the veil is actually a symbol of female power rather than repression. Therefore, Americans should not merely react with disgust at women being forced to cover themselves in public. It is an issue that the news article glosses over but fails to discuss in depth. And finally, perhaps ISIS is a form of Marxism where the oppressed have risen against the oppressors. With an Iraq that was controlled in so many ways by Americans, those under American rule have finally risen up against their oppressors. They have done this in part by reclaiming their own means of production (oil refineries) which Marx advocated for and the article mentions (Lamy 108).

Mary Rasooli

1/28/2016 08:09:58 pm

Michael! Thank you for mentioning the last part in your response about Postmodern feminist critique as well as the mention that many muslim women view their hijabs as strength and empowerment. I also appreciated that you mentioned Lamy's idea that "the Westernized version of freedom may not apply to all cultures" That is so true! It is something we must realize and not force upon others in this day and age where we have such diverse groups living amongst each other.

Mark De Martini

1/28/2016 08:22:25 pm

Michael,
I agree with your points in the first two paragraphs. Well written! In the third you discuss the reasoning of why Muslim women are covered. This is ancillary to the main point of how ISIS and the Taliban treat women. To wear the veil or headscarf as long as it remains a free choice is perfectly fine (and fashionable). It becomes an issue when men order women to do so, and makes it a painful, punishable crime for failing to do so. The rights of women under fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organizations are usually severely curtailed, and far beyond what reasonable Muslims find acceptable. The process of human development slides backward from there. As you point out its not wise to apply strict western standards to women's rights, however every woman should have the basic right to be respected as a human being. I believe there is little in common between Marxism and ISIS, except violent revolution. Marxism as an ideology is atheist. Marxist based communism failed miserably in the in Middle East everywhere it was tried because it didn't square with Islamic beliefs. Someone ALWAYS controls the means of production. In Marxism it is the proletariat. For ISIS, the leadership, not the masses controls oil production. I doubt it is American rule ISIS is rebelling against, but directed toward their own ethnic and religious competitors. Even back in the bitter fighting of 2004-2007 it was the sectarian violence against fellow Iraqis that caused the greatest number of casualties. Since the end of Saddam Hussain, the power vacuum is being filled with blood.

Gabriel Alcantara

1/31/2016 11:43:31 pm

I completely agree with you when you say "The process of human development slides backward from there." ISIS reminds me of when blacks were slaves, and women were just an "accessory" for men to carry around. They way they want to live sure feels like going back in time.

Thu-Thao Ho

1/31/2016 08:39:48 pm

First of all I'd like to commend your implications of the textbook into your analysis. I honestly agree with your points on ISIS being taken more seriously due to the extent of coverage on their recruitment, organization, as well as expansion of territory. It comes to show that a terrorist organization should not be underminded. Public awareness is crucial, but it must be informative and have an impact on the people. The public views ISIS now as an organization that is a huge threat to human rights and should be defeated permanently to preserve peace.

Xiaoguo Zhang

1/28/2016 02:48:09 pm

ISIS is the terrorist group who has occupied the area of territory in eastern Syria and Iraq. The main aim of this group is that to develop a state on the name of Islamic laws and will lead by a religious leader called “Caliphate”. Currently the ISIS is limited to Iraq and Syria, but this group wants to extend its boundaries to Jordan and Lebanon. This group includes the Sunni Muslims from different parts of the world including Europe. The major sources of financing of ISIS come from the selling of oil and kidnapping of foreigners. They are demanding the money from the home countries for the release of those foreigners. In this case, the world community, especially Europe and United States of America should think about the root causes of terrirism of these economies. Instead of fighting against terrorism it is vital to identify the causes of terrorism first and then to overcome these issues which raise terrorism especially in Iraq and Syria.
We should note ISIS has new weapon to develop their terrorism—networking. ISIS as an international terrorist forces have established a new kind of loose alliance. They maintain contact with one another while retaining the power to determine when and in what form to attack their common enemy. At the same time, the terrorist organizational structure has changed from pyramid to parallel. The Internet has emerged as a new means for ISIS propaganda and training. The Internet’s convenience allows ISIS leaders to swiftly publish speeches responding to current international affairs. For example, many terrorism cases such as paris, the internet also became a major communication channel that ISIS organizations utilize to recruit new members and plot attacks. Terrorists often use encrypted chat rooms and coded language to discuss how to carry out terrorist attacks. Moreover, through online training, radicals can learn various attack skills, and then launch attacks individually.

Michael Stevens

1/28/2016 06:30:54 pm

I like your idea that instead of fighting terrorism, we should fight the causes of terrorism. I agree; it is amazing how much social media has contributed to the growth of ISIS. For example, according to the New York Times article, approximately half of all ISIS members come from foreign countries. Social networking has been an invaluable tool in the growth of ISIS. Good insight.

Yumi Okawara

1/31/2016 09:19:16 pm

Hi, Xiaoguo!
I like how you analyzed and like your idea. As Michael mentioned, " we should fight the causes of terrorism" I agree with this your idea. We do not know that how much SNS has been immeasurable since ISIS is shown their power to the world.
I think developing of technology has a lot of benefits to us, however, at once, there are disadvantages.

Mary Rasooli

1/28/2016 07:44:14 pm

Hi! I absolutely agree that it is essential to examine the roots of terrorism. Instead of having countries intervene in the middle of chaos to inherently "bandage" the situation, it's so important to work from the bottom-up; to start at the root and work on up rather than try and bandage things from the top. There are just way too many complexities that have to be accounted for. Good thinking!

JeeSoo Lee

1/30/2016 02:52:29 pm

Hi Xiaoguo,

America’s approach to the War on Terror reminds me a lot on their approach to the War on Drugs – try to eradicate the problem by attacking the symptoms, not the cause. The government tried to lower drug related crimes by punishment instead of rehabilitation. I believe that people are innately good and that violence occurs when there is pain. Lamy writes that many extremist groups react in the face of massive globalization and Westernization, and perhaps we should get to the root of that instead.

Abhisheak sharma

1/30/2016 04:22:42 pm

Hey Xiaoguo,
I agree 100 percent with your comments about the great powers digging into the roots to why terrorism even occurs. Many times the great powers want to put an end to terrorism without even trying to find out how or why people become terrorist. Many terrorist join a group because they feel the need for revenge. No one wakes up as a terrorist the action of others make them become a terrorist.

Jessie Chen

1/31/2016 06:54:54 pm

I agree that their Internet activities becomes one of the means to publish ISIS such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, religion is what ISIS can use to motivate people to join there group. And I like your idea that we should estimate about the cause of terrorism instead of directly fighting against it.

Sharelle smith

1/31/2016 10:32:24 pm

I like how you mentioned the " shria law" Xiaoguo. I think Isis did mentioned that was also part of there plan, to create a shrian state. I haven't run across any terrorist advertisements although our government is finding them every day. I think part of the strategy that we have now is to limit the communication they have. The only thing is there is always a way to communicate. We need to make sure that were on the same page of our allies to make it difficult for them to operate.

Anteo Swenson

1/31/2016 11:54:09 pm

Nice explanation of ISIS. I also believe that, even though ISIS has physical power primarily in Iraq and Syria, it still has ideological power in other regions. One of the dangers that ISIS poses is that its power is also based on an ideology that influences people, regardless of where they are. Now, since there's also governments that sympathizes with such beliefs, it is a great danger to have support from a state.
It is a terrorist group that has gained too much power that it is argued if it could be classified as a zui generis state; a possibility that should not be ignored.

Madalyn Hart

1/28/2016 08:55:01 pm

Strengths:
Some of the major strengths ISIS has are its detailed and organized state-like economic structure. They have an entire system, which includes their leader and founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and his two deputies who both represent and are responsible for Syria and Iraq. On top of that ISIS also had a leadership council, a Cabinet and many local leaders who are spread out across Iraq and Syria reporting and sending updates. According to the article in The New York Times, ISIS is one of the wealthiest terror groups in history due its large money supply in oil revenues spread out all over Iraq and Syria. Its said to make them around $1 million to $2 million dollars per day. ISIS also has a strong military force who are all trained by old officers from Suddam Husseins army. This has provided ISIS with strong and strategic military strategies that help them execute terrorist actions in the Middle East along with all over the world. Another strength that ISIS has is its religion. According to Lamy followers of ISIS are promised heavy rewards in the afterlife if they obey, follow and practice ISIS and its religion. Sadly this means they believe in killing as many, if not all nonbelievers and unfaithful followers as possible (269). Anyone who disobeys ISIS is punished by either public amputations or public executions.
Weaknesses:
A weakness however that is also one of their strengths is their money income. Despite currently having a large amount of money coming in from their oil revenues, it’s not very dependable in that it requires them to constantly attain more land. If they fail to expand their territory then they could lose their main source of money. Another weakness ISIS has is the global hatred towards them. Because of their mass bombings and public/recorded executions of hostages and innocent victims they have now become a global issue every country is trying to put a stop to. It has become very difficult however to identify individual ISIS member because as explained by Lamy in the textbook, “[…] distinction between the soldier and the civilian becomes blurred or disappears altogether” in terrorist actions (267).

Opportunities:
There is a lot of space for opportunity. Seeing as we know ISIS depends heavily on their oil revenues the U.S military could help aid Iraq and Syria in bombing all the oil fields that belong to ISIS.

Threats:
A major threat ISIS holds against the rest of the world is that ISIS members are really hard to identify internationally. This makes fighting against them extremely difficult and almost impossible to prevent public bombings without increasing our military force and setting up large screening stations at public events, like the Super Bowl.

JeeSoo Lee

1/30/2016 03:13:44 pm

Hi Madalyn,

I wonder if it is such a good idea for the U.S. military to help Iraq and Syria bomb the oil fields in their own region. Although ISIS does have control over a huge portion of their reserves, I think it may be dangerous to damage these resources as the residents of these countries use the oil from these reserves already. It would also be extremely costly to rebuild the infrastructure when the war is over, and their main source of exports would be useless.

Jessie Chen

1/31/2016 07:06:11 pm

Good job on analyzing the strength and weakness of ISIS; however, for the resolution I kinda disagree with you. Although using US military to bomb the oil fields in Iraq and Syria is a direct way to cut off their income source, it also let other innocent citizens to get involve in the bombing. In addition, oil fields are valuable resources.

wenli zhou

1/28/2016 10:14:26 pm

I had read the article from New York Times: How ISIS Works. The objective of my SWOT analysis will be on ISIS and the purpose of my analysis is to understand and evaluate ISIS from different dynamics.
After reading the article, I believe ISIS’s Strength would be on finance. ISIS are the most wealthiest terror group in the history. According to the article, ISIS took control and running the largest oil field in Syria. As long as the underground market keep going, ISIS will always have jawbreaking amount of money to buy weapon, recruits and to make attacks.

Their weaknesses are also very obvious, First of all, they are unpopular. In the places where ISIS rules, women have to cover their faces and hair, According to the article: “People accused of disobeying the law are punished by public executions or amputations.” Accepts followers, this brutal, dehumanized group will always be a world enmey.
secondly, there is no liberty in ISIS which also means there is no free trade in ISIS. The textbook chapter three state: “liberal politics and capitalism are intimately linked... free trade would create a more peaceful world order is a core idea of nineteenth-century liberalism”(89). No capitalism and no free trade made ISIS depend on oil completely.

The opportunity for ISIS are barely exist because they are less likely to ever become a state. ISIS are trying to establish as a state, however, they do not have the essential elements of a state. First of all will be their foreign affairs and policies. If they ever become a state, There is no way a dictatorship could establish foreign affairs with any democratic counties. According to the textbook: “revolutionary ideas of religious fundamentalists all represent global factors that might shape policy behavior”(148). Before a country establish relationship with other countries, it need to think about the impact globally as well. Also, the textbook mentioned the idea of foreign assistance: “Most of the wealthy states in the international system are donor states”(156). This conflict with ISIS’s philosophy, ISIS will never help other non- islamic nations.

The threat is big. On its territory, it is still trying to consolidate its control along the border between Iraq and Syria. ISIS fighters also experienced some setbacks in Iraq, where American airstrikes came helped Iraqi. Outside around the world, ISIS facing threat from European countries, America, and Russia.

Abhisheak Sharma

1/30/2016 09:15:54 pm

Hey Wenli
I see your point that you make about ISIS trying to become a state. ISIS would be too dominating for other nations to consider doing agreements with. As much as ISIS would like to become more powerful, the other leading nations will never let that happen easily unless ISIS is willing to change their tactics.

Jessie Chen

1/31/2016 06:48:21 pm

I agree that even though ISIS are trying to become a state, the reality won't allow them to do this because ISIS is kinda an organization that against the whole world. And I like your explanation about why they depend on oil revenue heavily. Indeed the other countries will not let ISIS get stronger so they will cut off some resources such as free trade.

Yumi Okawara

1/31/2016 09:42:25 pm

Hi, Wenli!
I like how you analyzed and your ideas. ISIS is growing into a state, however the whole world will not grant them. I agree with this "ISIS will always have jawbreaking amount of money to buy weapon, recruits and to make attacks."

Madalyn Hart

1/31/2016 11:50:24 pm

I agree that ISIS will have a difficult time succesfully becoming a state because of how other nations will respond to them. Due to the violent methods ISIS as been using to try and achieve this, its very unlikely that other nations would want to help, or work with them in making their economy strong. They would have more enemies than allies.

Jessie Chen

1/28/2016 10:42:16 pm

The strength in ISIS is that it is well-organized in their economic structure. According to the article in The New York Times, “millions of dollars in oil revenue have made ISIS one of the wealthiest terror groups in history.” It is also connected to the huge territory they have own: eastern Iraq and Syria. Within the territory, ISIS owns a lot of beneficial oil field such as Omar, which was producing about 30,000 barrels a day when it was fully functioning. In addition, religion unifies this organization. It is the method that ISIS uses for recruiting new fighters. According to Lamy, ISIS is identified as postmodern or new terrorism, which “motivated by promises of rewards in the afterlife, some terrorists are driven by religious reasons to kill as many of the nonbelievers and unfaithful as possible” (269).
However, from the article in NYT we can see the main financial income of ISIS is their oil fields, which means they don’t have permanent resources. As a result, they need to extend their territory continuously to gain new oil fields. It becomes one of their weaknesses. Another one is that obviously ISIS is notorious around the world. “Liberal politics and capitalism are intimately linked [...] free trade would create a more peaceful world order is a core idea of nineteenth-century liberalism” (89). The things they have done are not acceptable for most people, which made them isolated in free trade.
Although ISIS has a military and financial stability, it is not recognized as a state by most countries. And the heavy depending on oil revenues also is great opportunity to take down ISIS. However, due to the developed technology nowadays, Propaganda via Internet becomes one of the means to publish ISIS. There is “increasing use of video cameras to record the preparations for attacks and their results” (273). They upload these videos to publicize their power, while also could recruit new members into their organization.

JeeSoo Lee

1/30/2016 03:35:42 pm

Hi Jessie,

In the grand scheme of things, I do agree that ISIS’s operations are not acceptable in the eyes of most people. However, they are still making an incredible amount of money from their reserves because so much of their oil is being sold to domestic buyers in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is also making most of their money selling to distributors, and not the people themselves. On top of that, I think it’s very difficult for people who are already struggling with their day-to-day lives to decide to research and choose where they purchase their goods and services, which is why ISIS still making millions per day.

Xiaoguo Zhang

1/31/2016 04:36:34 pm

I definitely agree with you. There has two backbones for ISIS. The first one is oil field. Oil support the economic for ISIS. The other one is propaganda. Today, ISIS use Facebook, Twitter and other social network to sell their ideology. In my opinion, propaganda worse than oil field.

wenli zhou

1/31/2016 11:21:16 pm

HI Jessica, I was also thinking that they had a well organized economic system, but then I realized their economic is based on oil completely which isn't really good. I think their recruit system are better than their economic system.
I like your point of view though,

Anteo Swenson

2/1/2016 12:02:36 am

Nice post. I do agree that ISIS has great economic power, and for the obvious reason that it has control over an area with vast oil reserves. Perhaps this is the main concern to the international powers of the world, that it has control and could expand such control over the precious oil reserves. After all, it is also a key area that has been of conflict for the past century or more.

Gabriel Alcantara link

1/28/2016 10:47:09 pm

The New York Times Article about “How Isis Works” is pretty self defining with its title. It gives us a clear and direct overview about how Isis has been succeeding and have been giving the world such a troublesome time. One of the strong aspects of this article is its simplicity and its pictures. The reader can obtain a clear understanding about what’s been said in the article. The fact that Isis is so dependable on oil is actually surprising to me. What is even more surprising, is that these super power countries are letting ISIS get away with taking so many oil sites, which also takes me to the weak part of this particle. Although The New York Times is not to blame, the fact that we do not know who buys the oil that keeps them going. If we knew which countries bought oil from them, the UN could intervene and make sure that those countries no longer support ISIS. That could be a good opportunity if we knew how to and towards whom to act. The only reason ISIS is still around is because they must be involved with somehow with some superpowers. There are some articles, such as “Iraqis think the U.S. is in cahoots with the Islamic State, and it is hurting the war” posted in The Washington Post, that insinuate that the US is supporting ISIS themselves. Of course, no proof is ever provided, but there are possibilities that ISIS does receive support from such powerful countries, which is a threat to all of us, because if we, the people, have no power to stop ISIS, what are we going to do if our “saviors” are the ones supporting ISIS? We would be doomed. There must be a way to stop such terrorist factions if we can win a war against three powerful countries.

Xiaoguo Zhang

1/31/2016 04:24:48 pm

We don’t have any evidence to proof the United State of America support ISIS. However, as you said, there definitely has a market which ISIS could sell their oil and get money to buy weapons and resources. On the one hand. We need destroy ISIS’s oil resources. On the other hand, we need destroy the market with support ISIS.

christian trinidad

1/31/2016 09:24:16 pm

If isis controls most of the worlds oil and the united states being the oil hungry country that we are would have no other choice they would have us over a barrel, pun intended, but in that case could we in some proxy matrix inception type thing be supporting the same people we are fighting ?

Misa Toyoura

1/31/2016 10:36:14 pm

Hi, Gabriel,

I guess lots of people are working already to end ISIS crisis, and It is a work that is already underway-- not happening like 'declaration of war' as happened in Afghanistan or Iraq because those were governments running those countries. ISIS is a group that has de-legitimized the governments in those areas and will stop at nothing to kill their own people as well as others. Moreover, America is less likely to fight against them since they are the one who is willing to die for oils.

Citlalli Flores

1/31/2016 10:33:52 pm

Hi, I think your post was very well written. I have to agree with you that there should be a way to stop these people from terrorizing others, and although there is no proof to show that these powerful countries are helping, there is no way to tell that the people (citizens) in these countries are helping ISIS.

wenli zhou

1/31/2016 11:26:41 pm

Hi Gabriel,
I like your point of view very much, I was also very shocked to learn that ISIS is so dependable on oil and other countries are okay with that. I have no idea how big underground market is but I could imagine the profit from it. It is difficult to even begin to investigate and put it to public if power behind it is too big. Thanks for sharing, I would love to look it to it.

Ralph Balaoing

1/31/2016 11:26:59 pm

I share your surprise in that ISIS is so dependent on oil as their main source of revenue. But I disagree with your belief that a "superpower" is directly involved with ISIS. First off, the oil ISIS does sell goes to the black market, not the international market therefore it is highly unlike any "superpower" would knowingly buy ISIS oil. Although I see how the Washington Post article might lead to that think.

Anteo Swenson

2/1/2016 12:29:10 am

I believe the reason why oil has become such an important part of the geopolitics of this issue, is because a lot of power comes along with the control of the reserves. Perhaps the (underground) "support" from the nations you mentioned is due to this control over the reserves. After all, it is a really valuable asset that can be used to manipulate and bribe. ISIS is located in a really strategic region, which is why it is a number one concern for the international community.

JeeSoo Lee

1/28/2016 11:06:40 pm

The objective of the U.S. government is to fight against the terrorist group ISIS spreading its extremist Islamic control over Iraq and Syria. The end goal for U.S. is to promote democracy and peace in foreign countries with our economic interests.

Strengths: Implementation Day in Iran will give Iranian people relief from sanctions, and U.S. corporations (and other foreign companies) will finally be able to spread their business in Iran. Iran can use their oil and gas resources to bring in more income to further strengthen their military or boost the domestic economy. This increases economic opportunities for the U.S., and the increased diplomacy between Iran and the U.S. will also help with the fight against terrorism.

Weaknesses: Many organizations within Iran that do not want Western globalization to take place such as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps will take action to prevent U.S. forces from having influence in their territory. Also, there is so much corruption in the political power that democracy and peace within Iran will not be seen for a long time even past Implementation Day.

Opportunities: President Obama has sent Congress a draft of his plan to take down ISIS with a new request for approval of AUMF. The general public’s lack of faith on power of the Congress will spur them into action. This situation is a good opportunity to get our government in order and demonstrate/move forward with our fight against terror. However, we should ask ourselves if America is not viewed as terrorists in other countries, as terrorism is defined as “the use of violence…to achieve political change” (Lemy, 260).

Threats: ISIS has a firm grip on a huge portion of the oil resources in Syria and Iraq. ISIS is also one of the wealthiest terrorist groups unafraid of using brute force to achieve their means. Marxists believe that the world is separated by class level and “the proletariat [would] become aware of their exploitation as workers, alienation from their government, and estragement from society ruled by the bourgeoisie” (Lemy, 98). In a world dominated by capitalism, ISIS “believe[s] that violence is the only method to preserve traditions and values against a cultural tsunami of Western products and materialism” (Lemy, 267). To combat this, American troops may be able to treat citizens with much more empathy to foster a better relationship with foreign nations. America did not and does not still have the largest interest in Middle East, as European investors have had always had the most control.

Gabriel Alcantara

1/31/2016 11:49:20 pm

Although I do agree that the US should find a way to take care of ISIS, I believe that it doesn't come down to the US by itself. ISIS is kind of like a disease. You will most likely get a cold if you stay outside at night naked. ISIS is that "cold" originated by so many countries interfering with the middle east.

Citlalli Flores

1/28/2016 11:13:19 pm

The strengths of this article were that it was able to gather enough information on what the economy will be like in Iran, how our ties with Iran have changed and will continue to change in the future, and the importance of “Implementation Day”. From my understanding, Implementation Day will be like the day Iran will be reintroduced to the global market. The country will have more opportunity to rise. US firms are going to try to be granted licenses to operate in the country.
The main weakness, but also the biggest weakness this article has is that the title says “Iran, Middle East, and ISIS in 2016” but there is only one sentence where they even mention ISIS. How will the reader/public know more about the impact ISIS will have in Iran and the Middle East in 2016? There is only information on how the economy will be impacted. Another thing that would be good to add is that ISIS is considered to be a part of new terrorism that is “motivated by promises of rewards in the afterlife, some terrorists are driven by religious reasons to kill as many of the nonbelievers and unfaithful as possible” (p.269), while old terrorism was “the use of violence for political purposes” (p.269).
I think an opportunity this article has is to add more information on ISIS because some people are interested in knowing what kind of impact they’ll have on the Middle East and Iran.
The threats on the article are how the citizens of Iran and the Middle Eastern countries will react and if the corruption of the state will minimize or increase this upcoming year. Since some of the countries in the Middle East are considered premodern, it means some of the “people think of themselves as members of [a] subnational group first, rather than the state” (p.121)

Abhisheak Sharma

1/28/2016 11:31:28 pm

The New York Times article provided very useful information about how ISIS works. ISIS is a organization that calls itself the leader of all Muslims. Many of the leaders who control are former officers from Saddam Hussein’s army. It has occupied territory in Syria and Iraq. Many cities and towns that ISIS has under its control are near supply routes and border crossing. ISIS has no problem in fundings. It's the richest terror group ever. There is only one main reason to why they have so much funding and that is having oil fields in both Syria and Iraq. It generates around one to two million a day. The United States inability to cut off oil revenue because of Turkey’s black market where ISIS gets to sell its oil barrels. Many of the towns and cities that are under their control use their terror to make people follow their ways. They use religion as their main connection to recruit members to their group. Around half of the ISIS members are from foreign countries. They have members around the world which creates a problem for officials outside of Syria and Iraq to know who’s part of the ISIS . The United States has the ability to put a dent in ISIS revenue. They mostly get money buy selling oil to other countries, if the US helped Iraq bomb their oil fields ISIS would bend a little.

Xiaoguo Zhang

1/31/2016 04:53:28 pm

In my opinion, the point is that the government of United States just don’t want to bomb ISIS oil fields. America maybe join this market which help ISIS to sell oil. In this case, we can not destroy the economic system of ISIS. This war is hard to win.

Misa Toyoura

1/31/2016 10:30:56 pm

Hi, Abhisheak,

I agree. To make ISIS bend a little, first we have to kill the way of thinking that is ISIS. We need censorship of the internet like blocking of all data related to ISIS ideology. We have to create confidence on a global level and form global organizations to end this crisis. All countries have to unite and cut the economic supply lines of ISIS. This is a slow and time-consuming process. All of these mass murderers in ISIS should arrest alive and those who lost everything because of them should publicly execute them.

Misa Toyoura

1/28/2016 11:31:36 pm

ISIS is no longer a mere terrorist organization, but one that operates like an army. It is no longer just an army, but one that is conquering land in Iraq and Syria to establish new ideological rule, in line with “Al-Qaeda’[s]” endgame (Lamy et al. 60). This is no longer a war of ideas against an extremist group with sparse networks, flashy strategic messaging, and limited technical offensive capability.

A prime strength: ISIS has a tightly controlled and capable senior leadership, and military command and control structure. They have a charismatic leader in Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and skilled and capable military field commanders— Baghdadi has a reputation as a highly organized and ruthless battlefield tactician, which makes his organization more attractive to young “jihad[ists]” than any other organization(Lamy et al. 61). In addition, his men help manage religious differences, charge executions, which makes ISIS more effective as a whole.

ISIS currently has the weaknesses of both a sovereign state and a terror organization— ruthless violence, sectarianism and rigid interpretation of Islamic law. The overreaching character of its religious and political claims to represent not only all Iraqi and Syrian Muslims, but “all Muslims” worldwide, may also alienate potential supporters (Lamy et al. 61).

Opportunity: ISIS appears to be focused on expanding its territory outside Syria and Iraq and on developing its international network as they excel at recruiting. When they win more ground, it gains more than just territory. Every additional inch on the map produces an inflated sense of both the group’s own power and the credibility of its claim to be the presumptive leader of the world’s Sunni Muslims. According to New York Times, ISIS has foreign fighters from Tunisia and Saudi Arabia to smaller country as Belgium, and bigger countries as China, Russia and the United States. They now seek our more recruits as part of its strategy to expand more internationally.

A major threat ISIS faces: I would say that ISIS relies on the control of information to dominate and manipulate the populations they terrorize in the regions captured only by their forces. They vanish to provide security, basic services and rights to its own citizens. The absence of a strong central authority creates acute problems not only for the citizens of that country but also for its neighbors. The danger that war, failed states and security vacuums pose to the regional and global order is multiplied with the globalization of local problems. If the citizens turn against ISIS, as they (were tribes) did against Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2007, a swift reversal of chance is likely.
-Commentary-
Terrorist organizations are as strong or weak as projected by the media and the importance given to them by the media and government together. By giving them a voice is adding fuel to fire and instead of making it easier the government make it more difficult for them. The lack of action while terrorists are overtaking vast amounts of territory and killing thousands of innocent people is the reason why this organization has been able to grow and create such terror in people’s hearts and minds. If the civilized world decided to destroy the terrorists, it could do so with the help of the media and the military together in a much swifter way. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria— a violent disease requires a perilous remedy.

Mark De Martini

1/29/2016 08:41:46 am

Misa,
You are spot on, and your analysis is thorough. I would add to your analysis discussing information use, that ISIS is highly effective in using the internet to recruit and inspire, if not direct terrorist operations. Both Paris and San Bernardino attacks were conducted by individuals radicalized by ISIS. Many times the process starts online. A strategy can be developed to counter this threat. You are right about ISIS acting like an army, in fact, ISIS is a de-facto nation. Therefore, any strategy to eliminate ISIS must keep this in mind. Only nations have armies, so ISIS has gone far beyond the terrorist stage where those tactics to defeat such organizations are now outgrown.

Misa Toyoura

1/29/2016 11:09:32 pm

Mark,
Thank you for your response, and your thoughtful advices. I totally agree with you everything you said!! BTW, have you received any emails from our professor??? :(

Mark De Martini

1/31/2016 11:47:13 am

Misa,
Have not received anything from professor Crain. I wrote my paper on what I remembered her saying in class. I believe we needed at least three quotes from our current readings or video, no outside sources, 750 words or more and the topic was the connection between Globalization and Global Warming. Your personal opinion on the matter is also required. If anyone has any more to say on this please write out.

christian trinidad

1/31/2016 09:35:56 pm

hey misa

I can see you really analyzed the article one thing i think you missed is there control over a large amount of oil fields in the middle east. About the last part i agree with you that it is the media that is giving them exposer and a voice as they as any publicity is good publicity

Misa

1/31/2016 10:37:58 pm

Thank you for your response!

Luis Ballesteros

1/31/2016 10:09:52 pm

i agree they are operating like a military, partially because a lot of former army personnel from Saddam Husains army has joined the fight. At the same time, i feel like ISIS is trying to fill a void that was created when the Ottoman Empire was dismantled back in WWI. not many people know that prior to WWI there was no Iraq or Syria or Palestine, no borders it was all part of the Ottoman empire. I think that this underline reason is one of the reasons why there is a push for the creation of a new muslim state. Things like this make you ask yourself....are they really terrorists? or just people trying to create a new nation and we as a western christian society don't want to see that??

Misa Toyoura

1/31/2016 10:40:47 pm

Intersting! I have never looked them that way, I agree. Thank you for your response!

Yumi Okawara

1/28/2016 11:38:57 pm

ISIS is extraordinary terrorist group who basically has seized the area of territory in Eastern Syria and Iraq. Even Al Qaeda abandoned because I think both Al Qaeda and ISIS were always based on the common profits, but it is not ideology to have them. As Lamy stated, “in the decade prior to 9/11, a number of analysts perceived that fundamental changes were taking place in the character of terrorism. The use of violence to change state ideology or the representation of ethnic minority groups had failed in its purpose, and a new trend was emerging (294).”
I read the article of New York Times and it mentioned many great information. The strength of the article is that ISIS takes advantage of religion; they are recruiting new members into their organization. Therefore, they can be possible to build up military strength. According to the textbook, “motivated by promises of rewards in the afterlife, some terrorists are driven by religious reasons to kill as many of the nonbelievers and unfaithful as possible (294).” I believe it is kind of mind control, and it truly causes innocent victims of terrorist.
Oil field is their main income; however, I think they are depending on oil more than they think. If their oil dependency advances, they need to expand the territory. The opportunity of the article is that the oil could exclude and the production is sabotaged by air strike. As the textbook mentioned, “defeat of Al Qaeda will not be achieved by military counterterrorism but by global political change that delegitimizes fundamentalism and violence (238).”
I guess it is difficult to specify who ISIS members are globally, and it is also impossible to restrain air raid without building up our military strength.

Luis Ballesteros

1/31/2016 10:02:49 pm

Hi Yumi,

I would not go as far as calling ISIS extraordinary, they are more of a bunch of lunatics using religion as propaganda to push their lunatic agenda and recruit weak-minded people, similar to what Hitler did and similar to what the US and USSR did over the cold war. Its actually very scary because and highlights the power of words and social media. We should of seen this coming decades ago since western powers are the ones responsible, over the next coming years as we move away from fosil fuels we will be able to hit them where it hurts the most and that’s in there pockets since they will not be able to fund any more terrorist activities but at the same time we need policy changes to happen faster than the terrorist can regroup or recruit. This will be the best thing long term for the entire globe

Citlalli Flores

1/31/2016 11:12:06 pm

Hi Yumi, I'd like to agree with what Luis had to say. ISIS is a group of people that are using their religion as a way to hurt others and impose their beliefs onto people while trying to recruit more members. I do have to agree that we should've seen this coming a long time ago. The question is, how do we stop them now? And how do we prevent these kind of groups from happening in the future?

Christian Trinidad

1/28/2016 11:44:30 pm

picked the article written by the New York Times titled “How isis works”. Isis’s main strengths are their control over land in Syria and Iraq and their wealth, Their main source of income like most of the middle east is oil. Leadership and organization is also a strength, with a lot of the leaders former officers in Saddam Hussein army.

Weakness is that they are losing support in the middle east and the less people are afraid of them the less power they will have over the citizens. With people like the religious police controlling every aspect of peoples lives isis is becoming more and more unpopular. They are losing having a hard time keeping control over the territories they control.

Opportunities
Isis has been constantly expanding with recruits coming from the UK, China and even the United States, their global reach is growing. A constant flow of money coming from the oil fields they can spend money on weapons, land and recruiting. There are a lot of people who dont like isis but at the same time there are a lot that do not like the United states.

Threats
One of the greatest threats in my opinion is international attention, the bigger and more public the acts of terror the more there will be blow back. The US government , always the world police, is already fighting them which leads to the next threat. The fighters for isis are almost impossible to identify it is hard to fight against an enemy you cant see.

Abhisheak Sharma

1/30/2016 06:31:32 pm

The fact that really interests me is how ISIS members are from all around the world. Like you mentioned UK, China and United States are some of the countries where ISIS members stay. The fact that religion is what ISIS can use to motivate people to join there group makes things easier for ISIS leaders to expand their networks in different nations.

Yumi Okawara

1/31/2016 09:49:50 pm

Hi, Christian!
I like how you analyzed and totally agree with you. The fact you have found was very intriguing me. As you stated, "Isis has been constantly expanding with recruits coming from the UK, China and even the United States, their global reach is growing" I agree with this because now networking has developed since 9/11 occurred. Therefore, ISIS can find new members easily and people who are interested in ISIS choose to get to ISIS without worrying.

Ralph Balaoing

1/28/2016 11:59:09 pm

Since the 1990s the use of terrorism by groups fueled by radical Islam has increased. “Terrorism, often called a weapon of the weak, is conducted by a minority of individuals who promote an extremist ideology.” (260) The New York Post aims to inform its reader of the organization and power, both political and financial, of I.S.I.S aka I.S.I.L. aka Daesh. First and foremost they summarize the organization and provide a brief history. The organization being: the self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi under whom serves a Leadership council, and a cabinet. Under those are local leaders. Next the article covers I.S.I.S. territorial holds, spanning over Iraq and Syria.
Currently the U.S. is responsible for the rise of I.S.I.S. whereas Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and many I.S.I.S. officers are former officers from Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army. This reaction is … “a reaction to the perceived oppression of Muslims worldwide.” (270) Therefore the best plan for combating I.S.I.S. should not be a strong military response but rather a “hearts and minds” campaigns to win over the local population, and create stronger ties with the Middle East. Although I acknowledge the need for military force will still be necessary it should be carried out by UNPKs rather than a coalition. As seen with Al Qaeda its defeat was not fully achieved. (208) Instead it fanned the flames for the rise of other terror groups among which was I.S.I.S. By first eliminating I.S.I.S. recruiting pool we prevent the potential rise of another terror group. In turn that allows any military response to I.S.I.S. to be more effective.

Luis Ballesteros

1/29/2016 12:06:51 am

I believe that the best article out of the 3 presented was the one from The New York Times, this article, in my opinion was able to convey clearly how ISIS operates; “The jihadist group has oil revenues, arms and organization, controls vast stretches of Syria and Iraq and aspires to statehood”. in its current state one can see a well developed internal operational structure which is behind their rapid growth. Even though the article is strong, it is not bullet proof and there are some weak spots which I would of like to seen covered in the article.

For example, the article does a great job at informing you about how ISIS works. It accomplishes this by going into detail discussions about how well they are finance and how within one summer they conquered majority of Iraq/Iran. They cover almost everything from goverment, to financials, to law enforcement. The article mentions how “Millions of dollars in oil revenue have made ISIS one of the wealthiest terror groups in history”

The article did a very good job talking about the “Now”/ current state, but I don’t think they did enough to set the stage by talking about how ISIS reached this point, That’s where there’s opportunity, the opportunity to further educate readers by not just covering the now and how it works but also touching on the logic on why ISIS came to be and work how they work. Also the opportunity to mention the Ottoman Empire and its role in current world affairs 100 years after its collapse.

Because this could at times the article from the New York Times could feel like a high level overview, it can cause the reader to misinterpret the article and make them walk away with the wrong opinion or assumptions. Which can turn around and be fuel to the fire, figuratively speaking. Overall I even learned a few things from this article myself.

Ralph Balaoing

1/31/2016 11:16:45 pm

Hey, Luis.
I agree with you in that The New York Times articles did a detailed job of explaining ISIS, but disagree when you say they fail to explain the "how". They did provide a few subtle points on how they reached the current state they are at. First of all as you stated they explain their revenue stream, oil. Second they tell you a few time throughout the article large portions of ISIS chain of command are former soldiers of the Saddam regime, which explains their military success.

Anteo Swenson

1/29/2016 07:13:02 pm

Terrorism is a phenomenon that has been around for a long time, but the popularization of such phenomenon increased dramatically in this past century. After the 9/11 attack, terrorism became an international issue and a prime concern for the world’s largest powers, primarily, the western ones (Lamy, 205). Currently, the terrorist group ISIS has expanded its power and ideology through a great part of the Middle East and the world. As the article from the Huffington Post mentioned, there are a variety of nations that are supporting the ISIS goal. Within some of them, there is Iran, that even though it is maintaining diplomatic relations with the US, it still supports the Syrian government and the ISIS ideology. Something that leads the nations around them to take precautions, like Tehran, who’s recommended to strengthen its military forces.
ISIS is without a doubt, and international phenomenon that has to be cared for. It has become a de facto State, since it has all the characteristics to be one. This zui generis State has a variety of characteristics that make it such a peculiar and dangerous issue. It holds a lot of strengths, for example, it is an extremist Muslim group, and it bases its ideology in the Islamic religion, which gives them a certain advantage over similar doctrines. Also, it is located in the Middle East, where there have been other extremist groups that had similar purposes, and so intelligence could be shared between them (Lamy, 208). They are also located in an area with the most oil reserves in the world, and since some nations also have extreme ideological views similar to ISIS, they are supporter of such cause. However, since it has strengths, it also has some weaknesses. Most of the weaknesses come from its same ideology, since it is an extreme ideology; the risk of losing belief is high. It also has become an international threat, primarily to the western powers, which (of course) have the most powerful militaries in the world and will not let things unsettled. It also runs the risk of losing support from the sympathizer nations.
From the strengths and weaknesses, also derive opportunities from both ISIS and the opposing nations. ISIS could use such, and has been using, its ideology to expand throughout the world, not only the Middle East. It has been able to gain access to oil reserves, which has given them great geopolitical power already. There’s also a variety of threats that this de facto State hold for others. The ideological factor still holds a great important part of the danged of such State, primarily because it appeals to a resentment that has been present for a while in the Middle East; also, it appeals to the sentiment of Pan- Arabism. Another great threat would be the danger of cyberterrorism, which is something that cannot always be controlled by the western powers (Lamy, 209), as it has been proven before by Google of an attack from China. ISIS clearly has the resources that some States have; it is a powerful actor in the international scenario that is becoming more dangerous every day.

Mark De Martini

1/29/2016 10:12:27 pm

Anteo,
You are absolutely right in assessing that ISIS now controls a wealth of the world's oil reserves. This is a strategic danger that cannot be left to its own devices. To think that the west and the USSR played the second great game in the Middle East for over 50 years only for both the lose out to a community of terrorist organizations. It is almost too grime to contemplate. This also points to major failings in U.S. foreign policy. This situation can only point out the ineptness of our actions.

Gabriel Alcantara

1/31/2016 11:57:02 pm

Terrorism has been out there way before 9/11. Just like professor Crain showed us, terrorism is "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims." You could say that World War II was a massive terrorist war, and so was the Cold War, our Civil War, the Russian Civil war, and many other wars. I agree with most of your response, but I disagree when you say that terrorist activities increased after 9/11. One of the reasons why so many people from the middle east suffer once they go abroad, is because we attached the word terrorist to the middle east.

class question

1/30/2016 04:08:10 pm

Did any of you guys receive the email about the essay topic yet?

1/30/2016 06:26:36 pm

Haven't receive anything for the professor.

Misa

1/31/2016 10:24:09 pm

Did you guys do the essay??

Steven Pham

1/31/2016 01:15:37 pm

Sorry, this was late, couldnt't access the website for some apparent reason till now but here is my bit on the crisis with ISIS. In the New York Times, it is shown that the ISIS works by territorial expansions, stable flow of economy, some sort of governmental control, and the driving force behind it all, military and weapons. Territorial expansion by ISIS created lots of opportunites for them because they have taken many of the oil fields scattered throughout Ithe Middle East which produces them the oil supply they need to keep running steadily. This may pose a threat to ISIS because it is quite difficult to keep those oil supply running for a long period of time without any intervention from other countries such as the U.S. Once those oil supply lines are cut off from ISIS, their group's power will slowly deteriorate, makeing them much more vulnerable, leading to their defeat. The opportunities of this, on the otherhand, is that it allows them to expand throughout the Middle East, making their recruitment much more efficient and help expand their powers to other towns throughout the Middle East.

The weakness of the ISIS is the governmental control they have over the territory they have already taken over. The presence of religious polices patroling the area already shows how weak the government influences of the people in those areas are. If the government control was strong and absolute then there would be no need for the religious police since the civilians understand clearly the power and motives of the ISIS government and would not wish to interfere. The strength of the ISIS is the oil fields they now own and the great amount of income they earn from those oil fields they control. This vast amount of income allows them to purchase more firepowers and have more politcal power in the Middle East.

Misa Toyoura

1/31/2016 10:23:36 pm

Hi, Steven,
I totally agree! They do seem to have stable economy as you mentioned, and it's right. However, it’s hard to imagine oil prices remaining stable once an organization that is hostile to the West is in control of the world’s biggest oil exporting countries. Oil prices could explode due to major supply disruptions.

Citlalli Flores

1/31/2016 10:59:31 pm

Hi, I think a lot of people would agree with you that ISIS' main power comes from the oil they own. Countries like the US should always avoid connections to such terrorist groups. I think this is where the importance of green/clean energy comes in, because if we had renewable energy, we wouldn't have to worry about being dependent on fossil fuels, or being dependent on oil that terrorist groups own.

Ralph Balaoing

1/31/2016 11:41:44 pm

Hey Steven,
I don't think the weakness of ISIS is the governmental control of their territory, I think it's that they've over expanded to a point they can no longer effectively governed. You view the religious police as a weakness however they are not. ISIS is acting as an occupying force, moderate Muslims who reject their radical beliefs out number them largely. Thus they have to use force to prevent uprisings. Right now as you point out ISIS also control oil fields. That poses the problem as now they have to divide their force between protecting their revenue ie the oil fields and their workforce ie the local population. Governmental control is clearly not their biggest issue but rather their depleting manpower.

Sharelle Smith

2/4/2016 11:28:12 pm

According the CNN article the U.S government is not in agreement about a strategy to combat Isis. The president has set out a strategy but has also said its ok to devise a separate plan. There is a conflict about what provisions should me made regarding the war, which makes it as though the U.S isn't just a "donor state" p156, but is infact leading the war on terrorism. Then there is a suggestion of a looming proposed switch on how the U.S deals with war, and should it be a congressional decision. If so "the use of violence and weaponry" p160 might change. Congress has shown over and over they can't agree which is also highlighted in the article. While the government can't make up their minds on strategy Isis "banning together with similar purpose"p208, doesn't seem to have the same problem. While the leading country is till making decisions about application of attack, Isis is becoming more organized. It isn't a good idea for congress to have to vote to make decisions because they don't get along. Not saying war isn't political. But they can't seem to get anything done. The U.S government shouldn't add anything else to their not ever going to do anything list. The best strategy would probably be to follow what the U.N would do. That way the U.S government isn't at odds with other countries and it would be a better strategic effort. According to the news article there isn't a real According the CNN article the U.S government is not in agreement about a strategy to combat Isis. The president has set out a strategy but has also said its ok to devise a separate plan. There is a conflict about what provisions should me made regarding the war, which makes it as though the U.S isn't just a "donor state" p156, but is infact leading the war on terrorism. Then there is a suggestion of a looming proposed switch on how the U.S deals with war, and should it be a congressional decision. If so "the use of violence and weaponry" p160 might change. Congress has shown over and over they can't agree which is also highlighted in the article. While the government can't make up their minds on strategy Isis "banning together with similar purpose"p208, doesn't seem to have the same problem.

Megan Fernandez

2/5/2016 12:19:57 am

January 16 earlier this year marked the “Implementation Day” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in which the economic sanctions imposed on Iran were finally lifted for completing the necessary steps in maintaining a peaceful nuclear energy program, confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). With the elimination of the sanctions, Iran can finally return to and fully engage in the global market and its legitimacy as a country that multinationals and other states can conduct business with. Iran’s return to global market will have a significant impact, particularly in the oil and gas industries, as Iran is the gatekeeper to the fourth largest oil reserve and second largest gas reserve. The New York Times article stated ISIS is one of the wealthiest terrorist groups in history as a result of millions of dollars in oil revenue. ISIS controls land where there are oil reserves in both Iraq and Syria. The Times writes that experts estimate ISIS takes in $1-2 million dollars per day in generated revenue.

It is unlikely despite Implementation Day that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will support or condone Iran in engaging as a full-fledged member of the global economy out of fear of western influence and loss of global economic monopoly. Tehran will most likely become more involved militarily in the Middle East in order to preserve their interests against the rising influence of ISIS and other local groups. Tehran is already spending billions of dollars to keep the Syrian regime in power and will likely continue to do so, if not up their military spending. The textbook describes national interests as different perspectives of foreign policy that can fall into different categories including security, economic welfare, prestige, promoting values and political ideology, expanding territory or control over vital resources, and seeking peace and stability (Lamy 141). Having spent the past nine months following and adapting to the JCPOA, Iran has improved its levels of prestige and state of economic welfare and seeks to pursue its interests in security and expanding territory and control over vital resources. On page 295, the authors of the textbook discuss how technological advances associated globalization have improved the capabilities of terrorist groups to plan and conduct operations with more devastation and coordination. These include proselytizing, coordination, security, mobility and lethality. With regards to proselytizing: land reform, government corruption, or foreign occupation have become motivating factors for people at a local level to join or show support for terrorist groups such as ISIS.

In conclusion, the sanctions did not impeded the generation of revenue for ISIS, which it has been using to fund its activities. However, the uplifting of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the international community will generate more revenue for the Iranian government, of which a large part will be used to combat the gaining military influence and control by ISIS in the Middle East, particularly Syria.

Mary Rasooli

2/9/2016 06:21:23 pm

The New York Times article “How ISIS Works” is a step by step walkthrough of how ISIS functions within its regions including the financial status of the terrorist group, its organization, its territories, the governing style. ots , its military statistics and weaponry. The article fully analyzes ISIS and all of its complexities to truly bring light to the group’s legitimacy and influence all over the world.
The strengths of the article are that it provides a very visually appealing, clear, and educational bundle of information that has been sorted into categories that the reader can follow. It does so with information that truly exemplifies the power of ISIS. The article heavily carries its agenda to display the influence of ISIS and its legitimacy. The weaknesses I see with this article’s analysis however is that it fails to analyze anything else politically. It does not address how ISIS began, how it established power from the beginning as well as why they are a terrorist group in the first place. They could also mention the weaknesses of ISIS being that because they are so heavily reliant on oil revenues, they may at some point be unable to operate if there were to be some form of interference with their income. There should be a mention of who is actually buying oil from them, as that could be a very strategic way to cut off their financial power by refusing to purchase oil from there.

Michelle Bounkousohn

3/27/2016 01:06:04 pm

With a growing global concern over ISIS/ISIL and its growing desire to establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate, international states should focus on the social and political forces, and must be analyzed for what it is to many of those engaging in terroristic acts, "as a reaction to the perceived oppression of Muslims worldwide and the spiritual bankruptcy of the West" (213).

Strengths:
- "Differences in value structures make the deterrence of religious terrorism difficult, if not impossible, as secular states cannot threaten materially the ideas that terrorists value spiritually" (213)
- Nonstate actors diffuse enemy military personnel across numerous countries, making it hard "to justify retaliating strikes against sovereign states that might not support terrorists within their borders" (212)
- Use of social media to incite terror
- Oil revenues, arms
- Has acquired swaths of land
- Military organization
- Ability to maintain stability and functionalities within controlled territories

Weaknesses:
- Reliance on social media could be destabilizing
- Authoritarian and violence-fueled regime is destabilizing in the long-term
- Its military is too small to take control of the areas it seeks to
- Ideologies isolate them from other Islamic groups in the region, incites anger and disapproval
- Reliance of oil/gas for their income

Opportunities:
- Increased Islamophobia driving more recruits into ISIL
- Destruction of communities within the Middle East makes expansion easier

Threats:
- NGO education informing individuals within occupied territories of their rights
- Public violence and punishment will lead to civilian uprisings
- Increasing number of enemies within area and around the glove

Week 4: ISIS - What, Who & Why?

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Week 4: ISIS - What, Who & Why?

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Poli 3 - DeAnza

THE BEAUTYOF BLACKCREATION

ABOUT USJOURNALS​​SUBMISSIONS

THE BEAUTY

OF BLACK

CREATION

ABOUT US

JOURNALS

SUBMISSIONS