GEOG 220 - Geopolitics

“Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”

Political Islam

• Tradition forms– Caliphates (7th-20th century – 1924 Ottoman Empire)

• Contemporary forms– Intellectual circles in late 19th century– Broader social base in early 20th century

• Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, 1920s)

– Resurgence since 1970s• Iran (1978), Afghanistan (1979), Algeria (1990), Chechnya

(1994), Iraq (2003), Libya-Egypt-Syria (2011)

Resistance to and liberation from (western) colonialism

• Numerous Islamic leaders and movements resisting colonization since the 1780s (Maghreb, Middle East, South Asia, Indonesia), see ref. in notes

• Islamic movements were the precursors to the later nationalist uprisings– Indonesia: Masyumi (consultative council of

Indonesian Muslims) played an important role in nationalist anticolonialism efforts and early state

Western colonization in MENA region

Western Sahara - Spanish

Brief chronology• 1769: the Russians handed the Turks their first sound defeat, pointing to

a new and difficult road ahead for Islam • 1798: French expedition into Egypt• 1830: French seized Algeria• 1839: British co-opted Aden (modern Yemen). • 1881: French occupied Tunisia• 1882: the English tightened their grip on Egypt. • 1911: Russia captured parts of Persia & Italy annexed Tripoli (Libya)• 1912: French extended their influence to Morocco.• 1916: British conquer southern Iraq• 1919: British control of Palestine• 1919: French control of Syria• 1948, West support creation of the state of Israel

Patterns of interventions

• Direct interventionism– UK– US

• Allied regimes– Iran (1955-79)– Saudi Arabia and Gulf States (1945-present) =>

Support for petro-monarchies (see “McJihad”)

Foreign military bases in Middle East

Major contemporaryIslamic armed militant groups

• Afghanistan (Taliban)• Algeria (FIS – Front Islamique du Salut)• Nigeria (Boko Aram)• Somalia (Al Shabab)• Philippines (Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayaf Group)• Libya• Syria (al Nusra, etc…)• Iraq

• Al Qaeda and its ‘franchises’• Syria and Iraq: ISIS

Muslim States• States with a history and demographic

majority of people of Islamic faith (Muslims)– c. 50 countries in the world

Islamic State

• Theocracy: “A form of government which defers not to civil development of law, but to an interpretation of the will of a God as set out in religious scripture and authorities.”

– Islamic scholars (ulama) and civil rulers– Islamic law (sharia) and courts– Islamization of society

• Islamic Republic of Iran (constitutional theocracy)• Saudi Arabia (theo-monarchy)

Militant groups ‘aligned’with Islamic State

• http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4225057/islamic_states_gi.gif

ISIL / ISIS / Daesh / IS

• والشام العراق في اإلسالمية   الدولة• ad-Dawlah al-Islāmīyah fīl-ʻIraq wa ash-Shām• (Da’ish)

Chronology/genealogy of ISIS• 1988: Creation of Al Qaeda in context of end of Soviet invasion of Afghan

(1979-89)

• 1999: Originally called Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (The Group of Monotheism and Jihad) or JTJ, and founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi => regime change in Jordan

• 2001: 9/11 attacks

• 2003: US invasion of Iraq

• 2004: Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn or "Organization of Jihad's Base in the Land of the Two Rivers” (AQ in Iraq)

• 2011: ‘Arab Spring’ with turn to civil war in Syria

• 2013-14: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demands that the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" disband and leave the formerly allied Syrian rebel group the al-Nusra Front in charge of operations against Bashar al-Assad's government. Al-Baghdadi refuses and ISIS breaks away from AQ

• 10-11 June 2014: ISIS seizes Mosul, 2nd largest Iraqi city, and Tikrit

• 29 June 2014: ISIS => IS, Al-Baghdadi Caliph

• Aug 2014: al-Maliki resigns

ISIS Political ideology

• Armed militancy and ‘Jihad’

• Theocracy and recreation of Caliphate

• Territorialization of (Sunni) Muslim community ‘Umma’

ISIS Billboard in Raqqa “The constitution of a secular state is incompatible with the law of God,” followed by a quotation of Qur’an 3:83

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on a Christian home in Mosul.

Sectarian-based political geography

Political organization

• Caliph• Country deputies• War council and advisors• Governors• Specific Councils

Political violence

Confessional/sectarian• Shiite, Yazidi, Christian

Political • Iraqi and Syrian governments• Kurds (Sunni)• Pro-government or competing Sunni groups

The logic of sectarianism

• Secularism / Sectarianism

• The problem with ‘majority rule’

• PM Al Maliki and Sunni grievances

ISIS and geopolitical imaginations

• Caliphates– Al Qaeda– ISIS

• War on Terror– ‘Afghanistan’, ‘Mogadishu’, …

Regional geopolitical perspectives

• Turkey: Kurdish issue (refugees, al-Assad regime)• Israel: Iranian threats• Iran: regional influence• Arab Gulf States: interventionism, status quo and

domestic stability

International geopolitical perspectives

• US: a costly quagmire, logic of military intervention

• European countries: US alliance, human rights, and domestic fears of terrorism

• Russia: critique of US interventionism• China: non-interference

Is the Islamic State a (future) state or a militant group with little future?

• Concrete dimensions: 4 million, major city, oil fields• Symbolic dimensions: unprecedented military success,

‘Sunni state’

• IS and the performance of statehood– Name– Passports, etc …

• Key factors: treatment of local populations => sustained support? Ground intervention by foreign forces? Iraqi government of ‘national unity’?

Discussion

• Sectarian logic of exclusion and repression

• Violent logics of war and terrorism

• Regional issues:– Iraq: inclusive federalism– Syria: political transition– Palestine: state recognition– Iran: international re-integration

• The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire – YouTube

• http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/video/2014/04/24/comprendre-la-situation-en-syrie-en-cinq-minutes_4407121_3218.html

• http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/visuel/2014/06/25/irak-syrie-au-fait-qui-est-l-eeil_4444888_4355770.html

Additional maps

• http://www.vox.com/a/maps-explain-the-middle-east