Political Science Paper on ISIS is Not a Terrorist Group
This is an article by Audrey Kurth Cronin in which he tries to explain the objectives of ISIS and the reason the measures that are being taken by the United States of America (U.S.A.) will not put to an end the current Jihadist threat in America. After the events of 9/11, stringent security measures have been operationalized since the attacked revealed that the U.S. had been ill-prepared to deal with threats like Al Qaeda. Counter-terrorism efforts have since been stepped-up by multiple agencies tasked with protecting the homeland. Newly formed and existing law enforcement agencies have been trained and equipped to deal with and prevent terror threats.
As the U.S.A was fighting Al Qaeda, a different Islamist group, Islamic State from Iraq and the al-Sham, emerged and replaced the Al Qaeda. The jihadist extremist group grew exponentially over a short period of time to become the biggest jihadist threat globally. Al Qaeda and ISIS are two different groups despite the fact that they have the same ideology, rhetoric and similarity has made people assume that they are the same group who are currently confusing observers so that they can refocus the counter-terrorism apparatus in Washington on a new target. The reality is, ISIS is different from Al Qaeda. This group can be termed as the successor of Al Qaeda, and it marks the post-Al Qaeda Jihadism (Audrey Kurth, np).
Conclusion
From Cronin’s observations on how ISIS operates, it is clear that it is not Al Qaeda. This is just another terror group that shares the same ideology as Al Qaeda but quite differently.
Work Cited
Cronin, Audrey Kurth. “ISIS is Not a Terrorist Group: Why Counter-terrorism won’t Stop the Latest Jihadist Threat.” Foreign Aff. 94 (2015): 87. Available at: http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/fora94&div=43&id=&page/. Accessed 26 Jan. 2017.