Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Growth of ISIS

Jack Ellington
Mrs. Straub
Econ
May 26th, 2015
The Growth of ISIS
ISIS (or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) is a dreaded organization of terrorists that are threatening the US. By now, almost everyone has heard of ISIS, due to coverage in the news and their brute beheadings. Many politicians have made it their focus to stopping them and actions have been taken by using drone strikes. They have gained many followers within the last few years and have been considered the biggest terrorist organization in the world. The US government is having trouble stopping ISIS primarily because of their strong impact on the mid eastern economics and their strength in numbers.
ISIS is located in Syria and Iraq and has done significant damage to the citizens of both countries. The primary focus of ISIS is to spread their Islamic extremism to the government of Syria and Iraq. Their goal is to rule a government under the strict laws their extremist Islamic beliefs. The war in Syria has propelled their movement and strength in numbers
That is specifically why ISIS is so dangerous. ISIS reaches out to the public and offer spots for their “noble” and “holy” army. On top of their dangerous numbers, they have a solid financial plan to keep their organization on track. ISIS obtains revenue by collecting taxes from the public in Iraq, stealing money from banks, selling oil and kidnapping ransoms. However the most significant is collecting taxes. ISIS doesn’t invest too much in oil and more in the public, so drone strikes on oil refineries  might impede their growth, but will not topple them over. The only way to stop the terrorist organization is to stop the army head-on, but Syria is in no condition to do so.

ISIS has taken over a significant power plant Baiji located in Syria and the government can do nothing to stop it. Syria has decided that it is more cost effective to live with the fact that ISIS has taken over a power plant, and due to extreme demand in energy, Syria has decided to buy energy from the organization that seeks to destroy their government. Since there is also little competition for energy near Syria, ISIS can lift the prices as high as they want, and soon they could have a monopoly. If ISIS manages to expand their reach on oil refineries, we could see a change in gas prices on American soil. As it is right now, ISIS has “The Baiji refinery, the largest refinery in Iraq, [which] has a capacity of processing up to 310,000 barrels of oil per day.” Since ISIS is only providing energy to Syria right now, the US economy shouldn’t be affected.
ISIS seems like it is far away, overseas, however it is closer than we think. ISIS members have risen in the US and all over the world, ISIS is growing and will not likely stop growing unless action is taken in the Middle East. Whether US troops are sent, drone strikes are launched, or the UN takes action. All are viable options, and if we do not want ISIS to grow, then action needs to take place.

Almukhtar, Sarah. "ISIS Finances Are Strong." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 May 2015. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/19/world/middleeast/isis-finances.html>.
Cairo, S. B. "What ISIS, an Al-Qaeda Affiliate in Syria, Really Wants." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/01/economist-explains-12>.
Fisher, Max. "How ISIS Is Exploiting the Economics of Syria's Civil War."Vox. Vox, 12 June 2014. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.vox.com/2014/6/12/5802824/how-isis-is-exploiting-the-economics-of-syrias-civil-war>.
Sharma, Riddhima. "ISIS & the Economics of Terrorism." Model Governance. Model Governance, 5 July 2014. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://modelgovernance.com/the-economics-of-terrorism/>.

10 comments:

  1. It is very frightening that ISIS is so hard to stop. The reason why they are so much of a presence in world affairs has to do with the fact that they operate just like any other business for the most part. They have sources of income from their hijackings or oil takeovers and also have a way of recruiting employees in society to take part in their activities. With their assets as well as their membership growing in size, they will only continue to do more harm unless their funds or members are seized. It is a key economic concept that if firms are making a profit, more firms will want to enter the industry. I fear that if ISIS isn’t stopped other groups may want to imitate them.

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  2. ISIS is a bigger problem then we are making them. If we don't deal with them they may grow to big for us to control or stop. They are going to keep growing and growing until they are unstoppable.

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  3. I thought that it was very interesting that ISIS is such a big threat to the US and not many people understand the severity of them. Since this is such a big problem the US needs to deal with them sooner vs. later because it could because an even bigger problem . Also since they sources of income they can do great damage, especially since they have gotten so many more followers. This is a terrorist organization that needs to be stopped soon. Overall I really liked this article and thought it brought attention to this issue.

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  4. I think it’s ridiculous that Syria actually gets their energy from an ISIS-owned power plant, and that they do not try to recover this plant. It speaks to the weakness of the Syrian government and also the shortage of energy in the region. I also don’t know why ISIS sells energy to their enemy, I realize they make a profit but they could weaken the Syrian government even more.

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  5. This is a great article that showed how powerful they are becoming, and in a way almost starting their own economy. I'm glad you related them to a monopoly because they seem to have no competition with anything they do, including influencing and controlling the government banks. Because if they don't comply with the terms ISIS sets out, they die. The power they have is very real and if they get a hold of enough of the banks in the area this could become a terrible disaster.

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  6. This was an interesting article to read. Of course, I had heard of ISIS before but I did not realize what they were doing to the economy,especially with the oil supply. I wonder what the gas prices will raise to in the United States because of this? I have noticed gas prices have been increasing gradually.Thanks for shining a light on again the importance of why this organization needs to be stopped. Great job!

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  7. It is new to me to learn how isis effects the economy and how they find ways to finance their terrorism. I truly believe that this group is going to face problems because of what they have done. The United States has already taken action in stopping them and I don't believe that is going to stop.

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  8. I did not know that ISIS controlled a power plant. That puts Syria in a difficult situation for sure. I wonder how soon ISIS oil control will begin to affect the US. I researched a little bit about ISIS for my history project and I was interested to read about ISIS taxing the people of the country, and I didn't know that that was how ISIS got most of their money. Their globalization could be very dangerous in the future.

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  9. I think it's very frightening that there are groups out in the world that are not only threatening safety of citizens, but they are also are controlling the energy usage and distribution as well. Economic power one of the most powerful forms of power that a person or group could have. I think a group like this doesn't have the right to use the "holy right" or anything in that nature because of the brutality and command of the innocent.

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  10. The growth of ISIS is quite scary, and reading your piece makes them seem a little bit more scary, it is well researched and helps me comprehend the reasons ISIS is growing. Your topic is creative in it's connections with econ, and well meshed with those reasons, for lack of a better term.

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