Abstract
As an ongoing national security problem, ISIS and its jihadi ideology challenged President Obama during his last two years in office, and will continue to plaque the Trump administration. This chapter explores how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi became the brutal leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq after the US invaded Iraq in March 2003. He was killed by a US drone in 2006 but his terrorist organization continued. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became leader of the successor group which is known as ISIS or ISIL. How the Obama administration fought to contain and degrade ISIS and the arguments assessing the legality of using force against ISIS in the absence of specific authorization are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cronin, Audrey Kurth. (2015). “ISIS is not a Terrorist Group.” Foreign Affairs, March/April.
- 2.
Warrick, Joby. (2016). Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. New York: Anchor Books.
- 3.
Powell , Colin. (2003). Presentation to the U.N. Security Council: A Threat to International Peace and Security. February 5. As cited in Sifry, M., and Cerf, M., eds. The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, and Opinions. New York: Simon & Shuster.
- 4.
Zenko, Micah. (2010). Between Threats and War: U.S. Discrete Military Operations in the Post-ColdWar World. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 92.
- 5.
Wood, Graeme. (2015). “What ISIS Really Wants,” The Atlantic, March.
- 6.
Wilkinson, Paul. (1986). Terrorism and the Liberal State. 2nd ed. New York: New York University Press, 299.
- 7.
Warrick, Joby. (2016). Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. New York: Anchor Books.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Bunzel, Cole. (2015). From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Analysis Paper.
- 10.
Byman, Daniel L., and Williams, Jennifer R. (2015). “ISIS v. Al Qaeda : Jihadism’s Global Civil War.” The National Interest, February 24.
- 11.
McCants, William. (2016). The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vison of the Islamic State. New York: Picador Books.
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
Bunzel, Cole. (2015). From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Analysis Paper.
- 14.
March, Andrew, and Revkin, Mara. (2015). “Caliphate of Law.” Foreign Affairs, April 15.
- 15.
Bunzel, Cole. (2015). From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Analysis Paper.
- 16.
See Richardson, Louise. (2006). What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat. New York: Random House.
- 17.
Savage, Charlie. (2015). Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post 9/11 Presidency. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 688.
- 18.
Department of Defense transcript, Stephen W. Preston, Remarks before the American Society of International Law, “The Legal Framework for the United States’ Use of Military Force Since 9/11,” April 10, 2015.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Starr-Deelen, D.G. (2018). The Rise of ISIS. In: Counter-Terrorism from the Obama Administration to President Trump. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69757-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69757-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69756-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69757-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)