GVPT 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Cosmopolitanism, Al-Qaeda, Human Security
7 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
International Relations: Navigating the Arab Spring and the Stability-Democracy Debate
(May 7th, 2018)
• Reminder: A review session for the final exam will be held during Wednesday’s lecture.
• Recall: Key Actors in Syria
o There are a large number of combatant groups in Syria.
o There are six main “categories” of actors:
▪ Syrian regime
▪ ISIS
▪ Other Islamists (Islamic Front, Al-Nusra)
▪ Moderate opposition (FSA)
▪ Kurdish militias (YPG)
▪ Other governments and proxies (Russia, U.S., Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia
and Gulf states, Israel, Hezbollah)
• The Rise of ISIS
o ISIS has its origin as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
o AQI deteriorated with the Anbar Awakening.
o The group rebuilt in prison, with a new leader.
o It rebranded as ISIS, then as IS.
• Differences between Al-Qaeda and ISIS
o Al-Qaeda
▪ Shadowy, decentralized global network that shifts around.
▪ Stateless
▪ Does not generally hold territory.
▪ Terrorist tactics with the aim of inciting global Muslim insurgency against
secular forces.
▪ Funded from international donors.
▪ Women and girls are largely excluded and violence is “by the book” and
controlled.
o ISIS
▪ Highly centralized, bureaucratic, visible, and concentrated group.
▪ Pseudo-state with a civilian bureaucracy and administration.
▪ Holds territories.
▪ Terrorist tactics used in addition to conventional warfare with the intent to
build a “pure” Sunni state.
▪ Self-funded.
▪ Women and girls are included; rhetoric emphasizes self-empowerment,
extreme violence, romance; also provides sex slaves to male recruits.
• Stability-Democracy Debate
o The Stability Paradigm
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