At the edge of centuries, the world faced great changes. The tendencies in war also became different. A shift of power resulted in the increase of substate groups influence (Medina, & Hepmer, 2013). One of the biggest and the most influential terrorist organizations today is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS. It is a threat to many countries. ISIS is dangerous not only due to its terroristic activity. Its negative influence is also observed in social, economic, military, and religious spheres of other states.
The Threat of ISIS
At present, the biggest threat of ISIS is terrorism. The suicide bombing used by the organization cause many deaths of the innocent people. The world countries tend to unite with a common aim to defeat ISIS before its influence is not critical. Some activities were agreed by the US and other countries on the NATO Summit. It was suggested to provide armed support to Iraqi partners; minimize the stream of foreign soldiers to Syria and Iraq; oppose any economic relations with ISIS, especially connected with oil trade; give attention to the humanitarian crisis in the area; and bring their ideology into discredit (Kumar, 2015).
Stern and Berger argue (as cited in Hoffman, 2016, para.8), “the soaring number of foreign fighters in Syria generally, and in ISIS specifically, point … to an increased risk of terrorism that could linger for years.” Thus, they consider the threat of ISIS a matter that will probably be not solved within the recent years.
The ISIS Propaganda
ISIS possesses its particular ways of recruiting new fighters. Their interpretation of Islamic law is different from that of the other Muslim world. They justify beheadings, raping, mass bombing with their service in the name of sacred ideas. Their wild actions refer to the distant past, but the use of technology in propaganda is modern (Shane, & Hubbard, 2014). The propaganda they spread over the world has a psychological lining. The terrorists create the images of “the glorious fighters” (Perlmutter, 2016, p.9). The ISIS videos depicting tanks, defeated soldiers, machine gun sounds together with inspiring music and “Allah Akbar!” chants seem to hypnotize. Besides, modern “digital games and action movies sell fantasy and make huge profits, as does ISIS in its own way” (Perlmutter, 2016, p.12). Thus, the efforts of governmental, religious and secular organizations should be united to minimize the effect of ISIS propaganda.
Domestic and International Terrorism
Speaking of domestic and international terrorism, the following should be considered. All terrorist attacks usually involve at least three nationalities: first of all, of the country in which the attack took place, secondly, that of the perpetrator, and thirdly, the nationality of the target (LaFree, Dugan, & Miller, 2014). Consequently, the most evident difference between international and domestic terrorism lies in these nationalities: “where one or more of these nationalities differs from the others is international, while attacks, where all three are the same are domestic (LaFree et al., 2014, p.146).
Conclusions
On the whole, the terroristic threat is among the most dangerous in the modern world. It cannot be predicted and takes lives of many people. The world leaders should unite to decrease the danger and prevent the spread of terrorism.
References
Hoffman. B. (2016). The Global Terror Threat and Counterterrorism Challenges Facing the Next Administration. Matthewaid, 9(11). Web.
Kumar, C. (2015). Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) a global threat: International strategy to counter the threat. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(4), 345-353.
LaFree, G., Dugan, L., & Miller, E. (2014). Putting terrorism in context: Lessons from the Global Terrorism Database. New York, NY: Routledge.
Medina, R.M., & Hepner, G.F. (2013). The Geography of international terrorism: An introduction to spaces and places of violent non-state groups. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group.
Perlmutter, D.D. (2016). “Look, look; See the glorious fighters!”: The visual persuasion of ISIS and the fanboys of terror. In Countering Daesh Propaganda: Action-Oriented Research for Practical Policy Outcomes, 9-14.
Shane, S., & Hubbard, B. (2014). ISIS Displaying a Deft Command of Varied Media. The New York Times. Web.