| Abstrakt: |
The killing of Osama bin Laden and the decline of the military rhythm in the Global war against terrorism, according to many, had created the feeling that the threat from global terrorism is also in decline. Yet, the developments caused by the terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) once again confirmed the theses that tackling global terrorism is a process that will last much longer that was expected by some. Using the complexity of the international political arena, ISIS managed to "blitzkrieg" and gain control over significant portion of territory. Thus, not only did ISIS challenge the sovereignty of the two states and destabilize the Gulf, but it also threw other challenges to the world peace and security. This paper will explore how and in what way ISIS succeeded in a relatively short period of time to raise a threat to the world peace and security. To this end, the main thesis that ISIS represents a threat to the world peace and security will be elaborated under three sub-thesis. First, the complex geopolitical constellations of the relations on the international arena and the slower tempo of the global war against terrorism created security vacuum in which ISIS evolved. The affirmation or defiance of this thesis will be conducted by examining how and in what way certain events and dynamics affected the creation of the security vacuum in favour of ISIS. The paper will analyse the following parameters / variables: withdrawal of forces from Iraq, the Arab Spring and the civil war in Syria, the Ukrainian crisis and the strengthening of the regional actors, as well as the absence of effective social policy in many states where ISIS recruits. The second sub-thesis will address the difference between Al-Qaeda and ISIS with a view to demonstrate why ISIS represents a qualitatively new threat to the world peace and security. The key argument in this part of the paper will be the explanation on how ISIS managed to create a new and unique type of threat that is different than the one of Al Qaeda. Unlike Al Qaeda that countered the world peace by sporadic decentralized shock attacks carried out globally, ISIS builds up its presence via new vector of operations. Although the direction and intensity of this vector are perhaps similar to those of Al Qaeda, the core vector that ISIS uses as threat differs in its essence. The inter-civilisation clash is material and direct, not only ideological. The third part of the paper will try to give some solutions and recommendations that will be directly conditioned by the results from the previous two parts. The conclusions and recommendations will serve to set a platform to be used in future research in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
