The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: Profile and Strategic Assessment (Part 1 of 2) (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: A Direct Threat to the Philippines? (Part 2 of 2)
NDCP Policy Brief, 2015
This is the second installment of the two-part series on the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its security implications for the Philippines. With a comprehensive analysis of the capabilities of ISIS, the first installment concluded that while ISIS was able to capture huge swathes of territory, its operations are likely to be confined in certain areas in the Middle East and North Africa. Due to its ideology and its relatively successful operations, ISIS has attracted supporters from groups in various countries, including the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the Philippines. Using the Dynamic Terrorist Threat Model outlined in the first article, this second part policy brief discusses two objectives: (1) the potential security challenges posed by ISIS; and (2) some policy considerations in Philippine counter-terrorism efforts vis-à-vis the ascendance of ISIS as an international terrorist threat. http://www.ndcp.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/publications/The%20Islamic%20State%20of%20Iraq%20and%20Syria%20Part%202.pdf
The Islamic State’s Northward Expansion in the Philippines
Counter Terrorism Trends and Analyses , 2017
The Islamic State’s (IS) East Asia Division (Sharq Asia) in the Philippines is a significant node of the group’s presence in Southeast Asia. Keeping in view the recent setbacks IS has suffered in the Levant, its East Asia Division, among others, remains a viable fallback option for the terror group. Given, the recent spate of IS-claimed high-profile terrorist attacks in Manila and the importance attached to the Philippines in IS social media propaganda campaigns, the IS threat to Manila is potent.
Strengths and weaknesses of counter-Islamic-insurgency programs in the Philippines
The Philippines have seen some of the deadliest and most persistent armed insurgencies in Asia. The government’s counter-insurgency programs, mainly started under the Marcos administration in the 1960s, have faced tremendous challenges from various Islamic insurgent groups, namely the MNLF, MILF and the ASG (Abu Sayyaf). This thesis examines the major strengths and weaknesses of the government’s counter-insurgent policies from the 1960s to the present day. It will first explore its weaknesses: the problem of legitimacy of the government in the eyes of the Filipino Muslims due to its historical colonial legacies and its inability to safeguard Muslim communities from socio-economic backwardness and violent outbreaks which have repeatedly jeopardized the government’s efforts. The essay will then examine the strengths and prospects of the counter-insurgent strategies by looking at the consistency the government’s goal over the decades as well as its ability to win over numerous insurgents and the importance of exploiting the divisions among the groups.
Verity: Jurnal Ilmiah Hubungan Internasional (International Relations Journal)
Since 2014, the Islamic State (IS) has emerged as one of the deadliest threats to world peace and security, as evidenced by the increasing number of terrorist attacks carried out by IS worldwide, and the number of fatalities caused by these attacks. IS established its strongholds in Iraq and Syria and is determined to create a global caliphate through the creation of IS wilayats across the world. In 2016, IS began to weaken and lose territory in the Middle East which resulted in it strengthening its power in Southeast Asia by forming a wilayat in the Southern Philippines.The presence of IS in the Philippines has been perceived as a national security threat in the country. President Rodrigo Duterte has formulated a national strategy to combat global terrorism in the country. This study aims to determine the strategy to eradicate global terrorism in the Philippines and explain the considerations behind the formation of that strategy. This research uses neoclassical realist perspective...
National Security Review, 2021
The resurgence of the Taliban as the dominant politico-military force after 20 years of US-led international military occupation and liberal democratic experiment in Afghanistan once again elevates Islamic fundamentalism or Islamism as one of the top worldwide security threats, with dire strategic implications to Philippine national security. The two main transnational terrorist groups vying for international jihadist leadership—Al Qaeda and the Islamic State —are highly likely to capitalize on this event in order to advance their divergent narratives and models of insurgency in their information warfare to attract the local Islamist armed threat groups to subscribe to their jihadist ‘franchise’. Meanwhile, the contested spaces within Afghanistan could be transformed into safe havens for mobilization in preparation for future terrorist attacks against US security allies, such as the Philippines. This latest security development significantly raises the urgency for the Philippine government to indigenize homeland security as a guiding comprehensive national policy framework for reforming the public safety and sector in order to attain the strategic objectives of the National Security Policy 2017- 2022 and the National Security Strategy 2018, effectively prevent another Marawi-style territorial takeover of urban centers, and stem the tide of Islamist terror in the country.
TERRORISM IN THE PHILIPPINES: THREATS AND RESPONSES BEFORE AND AFTER MARAWI SIEGE
published in Marwill N.Llasos and Modesta Apesa H. Chungalao, eds., Perspective on Terrorism in the Philippine Context (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Law Center, 2018), pp. 51-77. , 2018
Though terrorism became a catchword after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks on the United States, threats of terrorism in the Philippines pre-dated 9/11. In fact, terrorist personalities working for the Al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks in the Philippines as early as the mid-1990s. These terrorist personalities established a very strong support network of local and foreign terrorist fighters used eventually by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the siege of Marawi City on May 2017. This paper presents a brief historical background of terrorist threats in the Philippines and how these pre-existing terrorist threats immensely contributed to the 9/11 attacks and subsequent violent attacks in the Philippines after 9/11. This paper also describes some responses of the Philippine government to terrorist threats after 9/11, particularly in the context of Marawi siege of 2017. This paper concludes with an analysis of continuing threats of terrorism in the Philippines.