Insurgent Activities

The key drivers of uncertainty for ISIS in these scenarios include its ability to management its level fundamentalism and stability within its environment. Muslim conduct Islamic fundamentalism when they live and project on to others the original interpretation of Muhammed teachings. The most radical fundamentalism is Wahhabi or Salafist, supporting the conservative and extreme interpretation of the Quran and Sharia Law. ISIS uses its radical fundamentalist interpretation of Quran and Sharia Law to conduct its killing, caliphate and management its people. Due to its major combat losses, ISIS may want a less aggressive approach of fundamentalism to be more appealing to large portions of the Muslim community. The moderate fundamentalism approach used the both the uses the Quran and Sharia Law as well but used political governance or over more aggressive violence to achieve its strategic objectives. To regain personnel and strengthen its forces, ISIS may want to consider globalism over nationalism to improve stability. Although Globalism promotes international investment along with the spread of ideas and culture to other nations, ISIS may want to engage with Nationalism approach to strength it based in Iraq or Syria. All four scenarios review the importance of both fundamentalism and stability as major driving factors projecting the future of an uncertain

Cronin’s work is laid out as comparative case study analyzing multiple terrorist organization in their final months of existence. Her research has identified six possible pathways that a terrorist campaign will end. In the first six chapters of the book, she examines these six pathways. In the final chapter, she attempts to figure out which lessons from the ending of previous terrorist campaigns can apply to a possible ending for the al-Qaeda terrorist campaign. Most of the book outlines specific case studies of terrorist groups from around the world. Each case study directly supports one of her six pathways for the end of a terrorist campaign. These case studies provide an overview of the demise of multiple terrorist organization and provide what she believes is a consistent interlocking pattern that can be utilized in dealing with current and future terrorist group threats and how they can be directed to an end. The six pathways or patterns that Cronin has identified are decapitation, negotiation, success, failure, repression, and reorientation (Cronin, p.8).

In the post Osama bin Laden era al-Qaedist ideology is flourishing across the Arab world. A significant development has been the rise of al-Qaeda offshoots in the Middle East. The Abdallah Azzam Brigades franchise has increasingly become a noteworthy actor in terrorism. On May 8th, 2012 Thomas Nides, Deputy Secretary of State designated Abdallah Azzam Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization (Nides, T.R. , 2012). Abdullah Azzam Brigades may have only recently been added as a foreign terrorist group; nevertheless the organization has deep roots, lethal capacity, and is capable of contributing to supplementary instability in the Middle East.

One of the greatest hybrid threats to global stability today is the rise of the Islamic State. ISIS has been using hybrid techniques for a number of years. Current insurgent activity taking place in Iraq and Syria has been well documented. ISIS has shown time and again that they are a well-organized military-like group with its structured rank and coordinated offensive tactics. In addition to insurgent actions, ISIS has taken to terrorism in many countries around the world in order to promote its objectives. Recently it has been discovered that ISIS has also teamed with criminal organizations in both Europe, Asia, and North America. Additionally, ISIS has waged an information war against its enemies by spreading its propaganda through news outlets

(U) In 2011, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL, wanted to create a similar organization to focus on expansion in Syria (Time Inc.

The last three conflicts have been more recent and are actually still ongoing (National Counter Terrorism Center, 2014). The emergence of other groups opposed to AQ at least in political aspects such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has especially overshadowed the operations of AQ (Laub and Masters, 2014). This has led to lack of clarity on what exactly AQ is planning or indeed occurring inside the organisation. There are possible explanations for the current trends, especially in the Middle East and particularly in the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen (Turner, 2015). Some argue that Al-Qaeda has lost its mandate and has been supplanted by ISIL. Others believe that AQ could be simply taking advantage of the current crisis in the Middle East to regroup and reorganise itself so that it will re-emerge after some time (Hoffman, 2013). Others believe that AQ cannot possibly let itself be overshadowed in this way by the likes of ISIL; and that if it really still exists then it will be forced to act to prove that it is still in control of affairs in the region (Atwan, 2012). These arguments require detailed investigation in light of available data on the group and its

It would not at all be surprising if this decade comes to be known as the decade of terrorism in years to come. Since the turn of the millennium, terrorism, maybe more than any other global issue or topic, has plagued the world stage with constant news and horror. It can be argued that terrorism is a problem with no solution and no end in sight. The Islamic militant group, Al-Qaeda, is the most well known terrorist organization in the world. Al-Qaeda has been held accountable for some of the most tragic and horrifying acts of terror in history. Still, many people do not fully understand what Al-Qaeda is, who is behind it, and why it exists. A fluid, agreed-upon definition does not exist for the extremist

Their tiered infrastructure has the Amir or main man up top, the deputy, a command council and six committee’s controlling a slew of operational functions aligned within each (Gunaratna & Oreg, 2010). The formal structure of the organization gives it the strength to analyze, strategize and commit to planned targets while focusing on political, religious and social functions needed to keep affiliations and funding continue. This kind of flexibility of action allows for multiple fronts to move forward with goals and opportunities, however, this flexibility also allowed for too much freedom in the ranks. As detailed by Bin Laden’s frustration with regional Jihad groups whom he could not control, or halt from their domestic attacks that lead to Muslim casualties (Lahoud et al, 2012) With so many moving parts and culture strife with tribalism and a myriad of subset religious ideologies and belief systems it’s hard to maintain one specific jihadist ideology in which all are accepting. Thus, the lack of control is easily identifiable. Leadership should have identified that the radicalized Muslims each have their own cultural, religious, ethnic and localized belief systems that could/ would impede present and future organizational goals. Now let’s add the fact that the all of the higher leadership roles are also trying manage this whole ensemble from the shadows, due to being targeted themselves for capture or death. Remote management is never an easy

As mentioned earlier, the United States counterterrorism efforts consistently focused on diffusing power. While it is a necessary step to put a stop to the leaders of insurgency groups, this task has ample support due to the funding the U.S. Military has that is directed at completing this task. For this reason, the attention needs to be shifted towards inner-state problems in order to prevent another organization from coming in and filling the void left by its predecessor. Nevertheless, this task is more practical in theory because terrorist organizations tend to dampen “the options of operatives outside the club” (Berman 2011, 185) in everyday life. Therefore, members of the organization are unlikely to defect. This is a major hurdle, but it is far from

Therefore, the fact that ISIL has become very active in the context of civil war could be a strong indicator of its affiliation to AQ. This, as Robbins (2014) argues, is because civil wars can be said to be better and more reliable predictors of AQ affiliated groups than mere affiliation. This further means that the civil wars in Syria and Iraq could be better used to determine which groups taking part are AQ-affiliated than the mere fact that the groups have been known to be affiliated. It means that being known as an AQ affiliate does not matter much in determining the true affiliation of a group to AQ as does the group’s participation in civil wars (Robbins, 2014). ISIL emerged as very strong terrorist group within the context of the Iraqi civil war and has continued to show its lethality in the civil war in Syria (Laub and Masters, 2014). These two civil wars could be used, therefore, to better determine whether or not ISIL is actually an AQ affiliate. Determining this would in turn help in ascertaining the level of threat posed by AQ.

During the last decade, the Middle East has attracted the attention of the world’s eye for many reasons. Particularly, for the socials, political, and economic changes that have happened in these countries through the years. Consequently, the Middle East has lived a massive wave of military interventions, civil wars, violence, and death. Specifically, in the region of Iraq and Syria, where the people suffer the consequences of all the conflicts and affect the social development of this community. Under these circumstances, many military and terrorist affiliate groups have emerged, such as Al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the most notorious and bloody one ISIS. Particularly, these groups have some religion's background, and their values are

Led by an obscure AQI deputy named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the cadre began recruiting former members of Saddam Hussein's government into their ranks. At first glance secular, middle-aged, middle managers of an atheistic, Soviet client state and Radical Islamists make an odd couple. Look deeper and you'll see that totalitarianism is not about belief systems. It is about power. Changing his name to Haji Bakr was all was all Mohammad al-Khilfawi, the lifelong Baathist responsible for ISIS' organizational structure, needed to do to go from atheistic totalitarianism to Islamic

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, also known as Islamic State in Iran and the Levant, ISIL, is a terror group formed by the remaining members of al Qadea (AQI) after their down fall. ISIS aims to create a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and expand globally. Their methods to do so are by any means of spreading terror to innocent people by mass shootings, beheadings, and explosions. ISIS although a political driven terror group, claims to found their practice and ideology from Islam one of the three major world religions among Christianity and Judaism. However, Islamic teachings and beliefs contradict the practice, methodology and ideology of ISIS. In the following paper, I will be discussing the formation of the organization of ISIS, their

Groups such as AQ need to constantly be in the headlines in such a way that the world is well informed about its operations and terrorist activities. In the case of AQ, however, not much has been forthcoming in terms of its plans, activities, and even leadership structure. In fact it is not known whether the group is still in existence or has been supplanted. In the recent past, groups such as Boko Haram in West Africa, and Al Shabaab in East Africa, have been reigning supreme, operating freely and almost undeterred (Turner, 2015). This has led to speculation that maybe the US-led ‘War on Terror’ has managed to decimate AQ and this has hampered its operations significantly. It is always wise to keep a close watch on an enemy group, failure to do so can result in disastrous outcomes should the group be planning something bigger in the form of a terrorist attack. The problem, however, is that most of what is known about AQ is based on speculation and no tangible facts have been

(intro)September 11, 2001 is the defining moment in the annals of terrorism. Today, after the large ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror, US is stronger and better positioned to safeguard and support its interests against the risks of an insecure world. However, he still continues to face new dynamic challenges. I argue that the most pressing national security challenge facing the United States in the next 5-10 years is the violent extremism and terrorism derived from ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) group. MP1.ISIS is posing a persistent threat to our security and terrorist attacks within the US Homeland, but also against US citizens abroad and our Allies raise a grave danger. MP2Moreover, ISIS radical ideology undermines all the democracy values by which we live; the respect for human rights, the freedom of speech and religion. MP3 The two main factors that influenced my interpretation of ISIS challenge are the potential risk that ISIS could attain and use weapons of mass destruction, and MP4 its capability to recruit, radicalize and motivate, especially young people, to terrorist acts. MP5 US should continue to lead the fight with our Allies and partners to dismantle ISIS terrorist organization and its violent extremism ideology.