History Behind the News: ISIS

In class we distinguished many elements that currently define the issues around the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Some key aspects of the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria include:

1. The overlay of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and national identifications in the region (keeping in mind that these affiliations and the meanings of them change over time).

2. The history of the borders in the region.

3. The recent history of Shia-Sunni conflict in the region.

4. The history of U.S. and other foreign involvement in the region, and what kind of involvement we think would be helpful or harmful from here on out.

Knowing more about these four points do not tell us the future of ISIS, but help us evaluate the various news we read about the group.

1. The overlay of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and national identifications in the region (keeping in mind that these affiliations and the meanings of them change over time).

Ethnicity: Here is a map made by Dr. Michael Izady of Columbia University. (More of his maps can be found at Gulf/2000). In Japan, there is a strong ideological link made between ethnicity and nation. However, this is not necessarily the case in the Middle East (nor necessarily in Japan! We can discuss this more in class). As we can see in the map below, most nations in the region known as the Middle East have majority Arabic populations. Note also that Turkey is majority Turkish and Iran is majority Persian. However, also note the deep red that indicates Kurdish population that forms a significant ethnic group across the region and does not have its own nation. Also note the general ethnic diversity of the northern area. Shared language, culture, and shared history (real or idealized) define these ethnic groups.



However, there are many various dialects of Arabic. This map shows the linguistic diversity of the Arab-speaking world. Note that many linguistic communities cross national borders.




Religion: Another map by Dr. Izady shows us the branches and denominations of Islam worldwide. We should note here the close contact that Sunni and Shia Muslims have in the Middle East (a point I will return to in detail). Note also that Muslim is certainly a religion with a global presence, a variety of branches and denominations, and a variety of cultures. Although the Islamic State advocates violence, it does not represent all Muslims. This is a point that many diaspora Muslim communities are trying to communicate, as they face discrimination.








 All these maps show how a variety of possible identities -- ethnic, linguistic, religious -- across borders exist in the region in which ISIS has emerged.

2. The history of the borders in the region.

Here are some excellent historical maps that show the deep history of changes in the Middle East.

Here is also a video that shows the long history of shifting control over the region we call the Middle East. Note how recent the current borders are, and how European colonialism entered the region as recently as a century ago in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

The recent emergence of ISIS as a transnational group exposes the fragility of these contemporary borders.

3. The recent history of Shia-Sunni conflict in the region.

Although, as the maps above illustrate, there are many diverse communities in the region, perhaps no single factor is as important to understand the emergence of ISIS as the recent conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. This is also related to the broader politics of the region, as we discussed in class.

The Shia-Sunni split goes back to early Islamic history and disputes over the succession to Muhammad in 643 C.E. However, this old theological division has not always meant conflict. The contemporary sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims can be described as a modern one, with a specific recent history.

In class, we discussed many of the key historical events of the past 35 years since the Iranian Revolution. This website includes those events and more explanations about how political rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia (backing Shias and Sunnis in other countries, respectively) influence the current conflicts in the Middle East.

Key events include not only the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1998, but also the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.

In particular, ISIS must be understood as a development linked to events in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

This interview with Fanar Haddad, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute, describes how a Sunni identity developed in post-2003 Iraq. He emphasizes the feeling among many Sunnis of being victims of the Shia majority:

"Now you've got quite a strong sense of Sunni identity, one that has been anchored in a sense of victimhood. Perceptions regarding demographics play a role; as I said, they see themselves as being cheated into minority status. And yeah, victim identity at the hands of an overbearing, dictatorial Shia state — that's a very powerful feeling. It's got transnational echoes, which have helped accentuate this feeling of Sunni victimhood and identity."

As this map shows, Shia and Sunni communities also cross borders. As we discussed in class, ISIS identifies as Sunni Muslim, although not all the Sunnis even under ISIS-controlled areas sympathize with their version of Sunni Muslim.










 Of course, these events did not occur in a vacuum, as many mentions of the U.S., Iraq, and Saudi Arabia already suggest.

4. The history of U.S. and other foreign involvement in the region, and what kind of involvement we think would be helpful or harmful from here on out.

As we discussed in class, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 created a Shia-led Islamic republic in Iran. This disturbed Sunni rulers in countries, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia, that had large Shia populations. This sets the stage for Saudi involvement in the region on behalf of Sunni groups.

Among these Sunni groups were Islamist rebels in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Because they fought a communist government there (and the USSR had invaded on that government's behalf), the rebels also got support (money and weapons) from the United States. Among the rebels is a young Saudi named Osama bin Laden.

In 1991, during the first Gulf War, the U.S. drives Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. This gives Shia Muslims in Iraq, who feel repressed under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led government, hope that the U.S. will support them. Shia demonstrations and riots are brutally crushed, breeding more resentment against Sunni Muslims in Iraq.

After the Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the U.S. invades Afghanistan to pursue Al-Qaeda (and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden). Based on rumors about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the U.S. also toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. This ushers in a period of Shia rule, during which Sunni Muslims are repressed and dissatisfied.

This last process of Sunni dissatisfation with the new Iraqi state, is described well by Fanar Haddad.

This brings me to my questions for you about these issues. Although a great deal of debate is about if the United States should intervene, and how, what kind of role do you think Japan should play in this issue? To review the various opinions about the U.S.'s (and, in the case of these sources, mostly Obama's) role regarding ISIS, you can find the link to the political cartoons we looked at last week on this teaching website.