Al-Qaeda and ISIS’s Islamic Order Versus Middle East State-System: a Comparative Study on Strategy and Ideology

Authors

  • Nayar Muhiadeen Hamadamin Department of International Relations, Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management, Soran University, Soran City, Kurdistan Region-Iraq.
  • Othman Ahmed Ali Department of History, College of Arts, Salahaddin University, Erbil City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32410/huj-10370

Abstract

Both al-Qaida and ISIS had left significant bearing on international relations of the Middle East. This impact led to the emergence of a serious challenge to the Middle East’s political landscape which emergent in post World War I according to Sykes–Picot treaty of 1916. Although both organizations belong to Salafi Jihadism which is a part of global Jihad, they had different focuses and orientations which have hitherto not explained fully. The focus of this paper is to discuss the differences in their world views and methods of operations to change the Middle East political and security order.

References

Books

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (2012). “Wa-ya’bā ’llāh illā an yutimm nūrahu,” Mu’assasat al-Furqān. Al-Furqaf Foundation for Media Production, pp.5-6. Available at: https://ia600301.us.archive.org/32/items/2b-bkr-bghdd/143393.pdf

Heibner, S., Neumann, P. R., Holland-McCowan, J., & Basra, R. (2017). Caliphate in Decline: An Estimate of Islamic State’s Financial Fortunes. International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence. ICSR King’s College London Strand London WC2R 2LS United Kingdom, p.9. Available at: https://culturalpropertynews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ISIS-ICSR-Report-Caliphate-in-Decline-An-Estimate-of-Islamic-States-Financial-Fortunes.pdf

Chaliand, G., Chaliand, G., & Blin, A. (Eds.). (2007). The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda. Univ of California Press, p.314. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctv1wxrp4

Clarke, C. P., Jackson, K., Johnston, P. B., Robinson, E., & Shatz, H. J. (2017). Financial futures of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant: Findings from a RAND Corporation Workshop. RAND Corporation, p.9. available at: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF300/CF361/RAND_CF361.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/CF361

Hassan, H. (2016). THE SECTARIANISM OF THE ISLAMIC STATE: Ideological Roots and Political Context. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Publications Department 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036, p.9. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_253_Hassan_Islamic_State.pdf

Jones, S. G., Dobbins, J., Byman, D., Chivvis, C. S., Connable, B., Martini, J., ... & Chandler, N. (2017). Rolling Back the Islamic State. Rand Corporation, p.14. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/RAND_RR1912.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RR1912

Libicki, M. C., Martin, C., Chalk, P., & Sisson, M. (2007). Exploring terrorist targeting preferences (Vol. 483). Rand Corporation. PP. 5-6. Available at: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG483.pdf

Ningthoujam, A, S. (2014), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its South Asian Connection: An Indian Perspective. VIVEKANANDA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION 3, San Martin Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021, p.4. Available at: https://www.vifindia.org/sites/default/files/islamic-state-of-iraq-and-syria-isis-and-its-south-asian-connection-an-indian-perspective.pdf

Oosterveld, W. T., Bloem, W., Farnham, N., Kayaoğlu, B., & Sweijs, T. (2017). The rise and fall of ISIS: From evitability to inevitability. The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, p.5. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12613?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Rabasa, A., Chalk, P., Cragin, K., Daly, S. A., & Gregg, H. S. (2002). Beyond al-Qaeda: Part 1, the global jihadist movement (Vol. 1). Rand Corporation, p xvi. Available at: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG429.pdf

Sroka, A. (2017). Radicalism and Terrorism in the 21st Century: Implications for Security. Peter Lang AG, pp. 267-268, and p.271. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctv2t4bgx.6.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-5187_SYC-5188%2F5188&refreqid=fastly-default%3A2cad803ec6cf4da689fa288392f93b2f

Journals

Ali, I. (2004). Reflections on al Qaeda and Terrorism. Pakistan Horizon, 57(2), 24. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41394044?seq=1

Armborst, A. (2009). A profile of religious fundamentalism and terrorist activism. Defence Against Terrorism Review, 2(1), 51. Available at: https://www.nzkrim.de/fileadmin/nzk/Publikationen/Armborst_2009.pdf

Assadi, D., & Lorunser, B. (2007). Strategic management analysis of al Qaeda. The role of worldwide organization for a worldwide strategy. Problems and perspectives in management, (5, Iss. 4), 60. Available at:file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/Strategic_management_analysis_of_al_Qaeda_The_role.pdf

Blannin, P. (2017). Islamic State’s Financing: Sources, Methods and Utilisation. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 9(5), 17. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26351519?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Brüggemann, U. (2016). Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State: Objectives, Threat, Countermeasures. Federal Academy for Security Policy. Security Policy Working Paper, 9, pp.1-2. Available at: https://www.baks.bund.de/sites/baks010/files/working_paper_2016_09.pdf

Byman, D. (2016). Understanding the Islamic state—a review essay. International Security, 40(4), 127-128. Avilable at: file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/Byman-UnderstandingtheIslamicState-AReviewEssay-InternationalSecurity-2016%20(2).pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/ISEC_r_00235

Crenshaw, M. (2000). The psychology of terrorism: An agenda for the 21st century. Political psychology, 21(2), 405. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3791798?seq=1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00195

Edwards, A. (2015). ISIS and the Challenge of Islamist Extremism. Political Insight, 6(1), 12. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/2041-9066.12081 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-9066.12081

Ganor, B. (2015). Four questions on ISIS: a “trend” analysis of the Islamic State. Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(3), 59. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26297381.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Aa70141723e3fd1ab02ba08bd759bd686

Gregg, H. S. (2010). Fighting the jihad of the pen: Countering revolutionary Islam’s ideology. Terrorism and Political Violence, 22(2), p.300. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81224403.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546551003597584

Gunaratna, R. (2015). Global Threat Forecast The Rise of ISIS. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 8(1), 7. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26369557?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Martin, M., & Solomon, H. (2017). Islamic State: understanding the nature of the beast and its funding. Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 4(1), 20. Available at: https://econpapers.repec.org/article/saecrmide/v_3a4_3ay_3a2017_3ai_3a1_3ap_3a18-49.htm DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798916681319

Moghadam, A. (2008). The Salafi-jihad as a religious ideology. CTC Sentinel, 1(3), 14-16. Available at: https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Vol1Iss3-Art5.pdf

Monday, T. (2016). The Impacts of the Upsurge of Terrorism to the Contemporary International relations. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(19), 84-85. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/myjournal3%20(2).pdf

Shamieh, L , & Zoltán, S. (2015). The rise of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Academic and Applied Research in Military Science, 14(4), 367. Available at: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Shamieh%2C+L+%2C+%26+Zolt%C3%A1n%2C+S.+%282015%29.+The+rise+of+Islamic+State+of+Iraq+and+Syria+%28ISIS%29.+Academic+and+Applied+Research+in+Military+Science%2C+14%284%29&btnG=

Zelin, A. Y. (2014). The war between ISIS and al-Qaeda for supremacy of the global jihadist movement. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 20(1), 2-3. Available at: file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/ResearchNote_20_Zelin.pdf

Websites

Ababakar, M, S. et al., 2014. Open Letter. [Online] Available at: http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/14/english-v14.pdf (Accessed 27th December 2018).

Al Jazeera News. (2004). Afghans Arab.[Online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.net/2004/10/03/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-2 (Accessed 21th September, 2018).

Allison, G. (2016). Why ISIS Fears Israel. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 8. [Online] Available at: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-isis-fears-israel-17286?nopaging=1 (Accessed 20th December 2018).

Balbi, A. M. (2016). The influence of non-state actors on global politics. Australia Outlook, 26. [Online] Available from: http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/the-influence-of-non-state-actors-on-global-politics/ (Accessed 19th December 2018).

BBC NEWS. (2015). what is ‘Islamic State? [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29052144 (Accessed 24th December 2018).

Bertrand, N. (2015). We’re getting to know just how different ISIS is from al Qaeda. BUSINESS INSIDER. [Online] Available from: https://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-isis-and-al-qaeda-2015-5 (Accessed 14th Jan 2019).

Bruke, J. (2009). Think Again: Al Qaeda. Foreign Policy. [Online] Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/27/think-again-al-qaeda-4/ (Accessed 21th September, 2018).

Bruno, G. (2010). Al-Qaeda’s Financial Pressures. From Global Economy in Crisis, Council on Foreign Relations. [Online] Available at: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-qaedas-financial-pressures (Accessed 09th October 2018).

Byman, D. (2015). Terrorism in Africa: The Imminent Threat to the United States. Prepared testimony before the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the House Committee on Homeland Security, 29, p.25. Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-114hhrg94891/html/CHRG-114hhrg94891.htm (Accessed 22 October 2018).

Byman, D. (2017). Judging Al Qaeda’s Record, Part I: Is the Organization in Decline? Lawfare Institute: Hard National Security Choices. [Online] Available at: https://www.lawfareblog.com/judging-al-qaedas-record-part-i-organization-decline (Accessed 09 October 2018).

Essays, UK. (2018). The Aims of Al Qaeda Politics Essay. UK essays. [Online] Available at: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/politics/the-aims-of-al-qaeda-politics essay.php?fbclid=IwAR0VDyLP_1jZNbFmlimWwfOdWMjDypAMW8afKl7RI9W3YQxVnhIHEm7_Dks (Accessed 11th December 2018).

FATF Report. (2015). Financing of the terrorist organization Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). FATF. [Online] Available from www.fatf gafi.org/topics/methodsandtrends/documents/financing-of-terrorist-organisation isil.html(Accessed 8th Jan 2019).

Gunaratna, R. (2005). Al Qaeda’s Ideology. Hudson Institute. [Online] Available from: https://www.hudson.org/research/9777-al-qaeda-s-ideology (Accessed 15th Jan 2019).

Habeck, M. (2012). What does Al Qaeda want?. Foreign Policy. [Online] Available at:https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/03/06/what-does-al-qaeda-want/(Accessed 17th December 2018).

Hayes, L., Brunner, B., & Rowen, B. Al-Qaeda. (2017). INFOPLEASE. [Online] Available from: https://www.infoplease.com/al-qaeda (Accessed 21th September, 2018).

DW. (2014). Sykes-Picot drew Middle East’s arbitrary borders. Available at: https://www.dw.com/en/sykes-picot-drew-middle-easts-arbitrary-borders/a-17734768 (Accessed 18th December, 2018).

Simcox, R. (2016). The threat of Islamist terrorism in Europe and how the US should respond. Heritage Foundation, pp.1-2. Avilable at: https://www.heritage.org/terrorism/report/the-threat-islamist-terrorism-europe-and-how-the-us-should-respond (Accessed 21th September, 2018).

Statista, 2020. Richest terrorist organizations worldwide in 2017. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/950492/richest-terrorist-organizations-worldwide/?fbclid=IwAR1k_RPiTYOwfVb24pd2GMsV0MsdVfDMd7VjGLtt-CQipRRgpsqIez9DjWY#statisticContainer

The Guardian. (2001). Text: Osama Bin Laden’s 1998 Interview. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/08/afghanistan.terrorism15 (Accessed 14th December 2020).

Usama Bin laden, (1996). Declaration of War against the Infidels Occupying the Two Holy Places. Available at: http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/opf980830a.htm (Accessed 14th December 2020).

Wong, K. (2014). Five ways ISIS, al Qaeda differ. The Hill. [Online] Available from: www.fatf-gafi.org/topics/methodsandtrends/documents/financing-of-terrorist-organisation-isil.html(Accessed 8th Jan 2019).

Yassin, M. (2005). The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants. Der Spiegel. [Online] Available at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-future-of-terrorism-what-al-qaida-really-wants-a-369448.html (Accessed 29th September 2018).

Zehorai, I. (2018). The Richest Terror Organizations in the World. Forbes International. Available at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinternational/2018/01/24/the-richest-terror-organizations-in-the-world/?sh=1382f0137fd1&fbclid=IwAR3-Lq9BWlksi-RpjQaozehVYyQErneK6V1GbmwiiuHu5M282TLJOqiMuvo

Reports

J, M. Matt. (2010). Why Youth Join al-Qaeda. The United States Institute of Peace, Special Report 236. P: 3. Available at: https://www.usip.org/publications/2010/05/why-youth-join-al-qaeda

Rabinovich, I. (2014). The End of Sykes-Picot? Reflections on the Prospects of the Arab State System. Brookings. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-end-of-sykes-picot-reflections-on-the-prospects-of-the-arab-state-system/

Roth, J., Greenburg, D., & Wille, S. (2004). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. Monograph on Terrorist Financing, p.4. Available at: https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrFin_Monograph.pdf

PhD and MA thesis

Al-Kahwati, A. (2018). The Strategy of the Islamic State: Instrumental and Organizational Developments in Relation to the Strategy of Al Qaeda. Lund University Libraries (M.A,thesis), p.34. Available at: http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=8931044&fileOId=8932431

Curry Jr, H. (2016). The Grand Strategy of the Islamic State: What Can the Coalition Do About It. Air War College, Air University Maxwell Air Force Base United States (M.A thesis), p.7. Available at: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1012822.pdffile:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/INTERNATIONALTERRORISMINTHEMIDDLEEASTISISASACASESTUDY%20(2).pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.21236/AD1012822

Dhakal, A. (2019). Armed Non-State Actors in International Relations: A Study of ISIS. In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy, Sikkim University,pp. 207-211. Available at: http://14.139.206.50:8080/jspui/bitstream/1/6120/1/Asim%20Dhakal.pdf

Idahosa, S, O. (2013). International Terrorism in the Middle East: ISIS as a Case Study. MA, Student of International Relations: Global Security and Development Cooperation at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow), Russia Miklukho-Maklaya str., 10A, Moscow, Russia, 117198. Available at:

file:///C:/Users/Niar/Downloads/INTERNATIONALTERRORISMINTHEMIDDLEEASTISISASACASESTUDY%20(3).pdf

Published

2022-01-17

How to Cite

Muhiadeen Hamadamin, N., & Ahmed Ali, O. . (2022). Al-Qaeda and ISIS’s Islamic Order Versus Middle East State-System: a Comparative Study on Strategy and Ideology . Halabja University Journal, 6(1), 209-237. https://doi.org/10.32410/huj-10370