The Is and the United States Reaction

Christian Duarte Quijada

LRI A01333964

The IS and the United States reaction

Introduction

        The Islamic State has become, along with the Ukraine crisis, one of the two most important issues in the international agenda, and it is not for less, because this particular issue involves elements and delicate terms that easily receive the attention of today’s international society. Islam, jihadist, decapitations, Middle East, bombings, caliphate, genocide, terrorism, Barack Obama, paramilitary groups and international cooperation can perfectly illustrate the situation of the conflict but cannot show a perspective of how this conflict is going to end. For academic purposes, this paper will analyze the conflict by dividing it into 6 parts to understand each one and then put them all together again to conclude the document and give a little prospective of the situation.

Importance of the case:

        Besides it is a recent event that is currently taking place, the Islamic State issue has its repercussions on world politics, economics, security, cooperation and a huge geopolitical impact around the globe. On the other hand, it exposes two big challenges, the first one is the capability of survival of a 21st  century caliphate and the second one is the biggest test in security matter of the Barack Obama’s administration.

Main actors:

ISIS: Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, also known as the “IS”: Is the main actor of this paper. According to Margot Patterson has become into a transnational movement and it is the largest terrorist group in the world, having approximately four million people living in areas under its control^[a] (Patterson, 2014). The background of the organization will be explained in the next section.

United States Government:

Peshmerga Forces: The armed kurdish fighters who defend, backed by international support, the Kurdistan zone from the Islamic State offense, according to the Stratfor Analysis. (Stratfor, 2014)

Barack Obama: The president of the United States who maintain a “no ground troops” position in the conflict, however, keeps a strong conviction to defeat de Islamic State.  

James Foley: The first journalist murdered by the IS

Steven Sotloff: Second journalist murdered by the IS

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Leader of the IS organization, its participation will be explained in the next section.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: a Jordanian terrorist who found the Tawhid wa al Jihad in 2002, another jihadist group in Gaza, predecessor of the IS.

Al-Qaeda: Jihadist paramilitary and terrorist organization

Background:

        The Islamic State is not a regular State, it is a radical Islamic group which created a violent and extremist reputation as a consequence of their acts. The origins of the IS, according to the BBC News, come from an alliance with Al-Qaeda, principally between Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist who founded the Tawhid wa al-Jihad in 2002, another jihadist group in Gaza. This terrorist coalition formed the Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), organization that put the basis for the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) after the Zarqawi’s death in 2006. 4 years later Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS, became the highest command of the organization. Another structural change occurs in April 2013, when Baghdadi announced the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), also changing their focus from Syria, where the group had been involved in the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Finally, in June 2014, ISIS took control over dozens of cities and towns and consequently Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate and changed the name of the organization to Islamic State only (BBC, 2014).