Islamic State Containment Flashcards
(28 cards)
What/when did george kennan propose
policy of containing the soviet union 1987
what did kennans proposal aim to do
limit ussr’s ability to influence neighbouring countries ideologically
what was the cold war scholars consensus on containment
states must be clearly idenfifiable, the contained adversary must share sense of risk eg fear of ww3
why was containment of ussr possible
allowed american hegemony to continue as if ussr existed there is something worse than american domination
why cant cold war containment be directly applied to post cold war - smith 2014
change in political context, rise of non state actors
aran 2012 on transferability of containment
it has been used successfully against locally based terrorist actors
four types of subject which can be contained
nation states, secular non state actors, state actors justified by religion, non state actors justified by religion
can you contain isis as doesnt fit any type?
possible as long as it shows characteristics of other subjects which are containable
what actions have been taken to contain isis?
limited approach so far, military options to recapture territory and prevent expansion
issue with current actions to contain isis
actions have been vague, focused on single parts of ISIS whereas hybrid nature must be understood to continue containment
why did isis remain so powerful
lots of territory, strong centre and sought to build rather than just destroy, had a ‘masterplan’ (fishman 2017)
kennans resemblance between isis and ussr containment
both a product of ideology which they inherited from the political movement which gave them power
what made isis powerful originally
islamic ideology, sunni-shia rivalry and consequences of military interventions led people to join
why is western intervention with isis often ineffective
isis’ members want to be part of something that represents their religion/traditions, muslim states like saudi arabia key to help containment (atran, 2015)
how does byman (2015) describe isis
a revolutionary movement which replaced existing state structures with different ones
how does isis’ violence help it
creates political meaning, works as an instrument to coerce political and ideological opponents
why is military action on isis territory often unsuccessful
isis show territorial flexibility, do not hold ground at any cost, eg town of dabiq abandoned when anti-isis forces approached
kennan 1987 on realist containment
needs to start at home and restrain liberal interventionist impulses, difficult due to isis’ atrocities but necessary as dipomacy and patience more effective
what should realist containment of isis focus on
limiting the expansion of isis’ power rather than eliminating it
what is reactive containment
calibrates the actors actions with the actions of the opponent, must be proactive and can be restraint not intervention
containment of a transformed isis which has lost territory
needs restraint, trusting in the idea that isis finds it harder to rule than to conquer - phillips 2014
why is isis at risk of losing its legitimacy
when isis loses its territory, oaths of allegiance to it are no longer binding and as it fails to expand it fails to help its people which causes the risk of it losing its legitimacy
containments exploitation of isis’ internal contradictions
limiting isis’ regaining of territory exploits isis’ legitimacy as with no centre of power it risks being torn apart
what are isis’ internal contradictions
attempting to combined political strategists and the islamist ideology
