A Fledgling Land: The Perpetual Conflicts in Arab Iraq

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A Fledgling Land: The Perpetual Conflicts in Arab Iraq

Last month, the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS/ISIL took the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Further compounding this stunning seizure was the extremist group’s capture of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, thus gaining control of over half of Syria. As its biggest victory in almost a year, it illustrates that despite western intervention the group is not going away quietly. ISIL was propelled into the news last summer when on the morning of June 11th, the world was stunned to hear that Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, had fallen to the extremist group in a lightning advance. Since then they have continued to push south and spread their control across the region. Yet what does all of this mean? Factionalism and sectarian rifts are nothing new in the ancient lands that hold tribalism and religion over all other political wants. Iraq, however, was not always Iraq, and the Sunni-Shia rift is not a product of the twentieth century. To understand the issues of ISIL and Iraq today, we must understand the history of this divided region of the world.

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Back to the Future: ISIL and Confessional Conflict in the Modern World

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Recent attacks in Paris and Nigeria have once again cast a light on extreme elements of Islam. Many in the West condemn these extremists, some through hyperbolic statements denouncing the Islamic faith, others with declarations of unity with the majority of Muslims who practice their faith peacefully. The rise of Islamic extremism is a complex issue. Few commentators have compared it with Christianity’s religious history and the relationship between extreme ideology and transforming political structures. In the case of ISIS, some useful and interesting parallels exist.

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What Comes After War? The Problem of Reconstruction by Kirk W. Goodlet

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Four weeks ago I successfully defended my PhD dissertation. Over the last several years, I had been rapt with exploring the history of post-war reconstruction in northwest Europe, particularly in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, and the many challenges civilians of this region faced both during and after the Second World War. These included civil-military issues, institutional problems, as well as socio-economic problems that hindered recovery once the war came to an end. What I found most interesting was that the weeks leading up to my defence were filled with media bytes about Israel’s renewed offensive against Hamas-controlled Gaza. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and Israeli Air Force (IAF) were killing civilians by the score, but they were also targeting known Hamas militants who had orchestrated attacks on Israel. I couldn’t help but draw some parallels between the civilians I had been so concerned about over the course of researching and writing my dissertation, and the people of Gaza who were caught in the crossfire and subject to the awesome power of Israeli air superiority.

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'Buying a Seat at the Table': Canadian Defence Policy in Reaction to ISIS

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As pressure mounts on the United States and its allies to take strategic action against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, commonly known as ISIS, Canada’s financial contribution (or lack thereof) to Western democratic defence is taking severe heat in political forums and the media. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged further action in support of growing international efforts to combat ISIS and the persistent threat of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. Harper’s promise came this week while speaking with other world leaders in London, England in response to the horrific execution of a second US freelance journalist, Steven Sotloff. Calls for an increase in Canada’s financial contribution to Western defence are reportedly growing stronger from within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), putting the nation in an awkward and touchy situation. In today’s post we briefly examine the economics of Canada’s post-1945 defence policy, to provide a historical perspective to this most recent predicament.

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