Islamic State continue Middle Eastern influence

by davidcurtisgeorge

UK prime minister David Cameron has described the Islamic State extremist group as  “sick terrorists” following the video released showing the beheading of another victim.

Uploaded on Saturday 15th November, the video depicted the brutal decapitation of a US aid worker, known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, and 18 Syrian prisoners. It served as a reminder to the Western world that IS were still an influential and dangerous force in the Middle East.

After the killing on Alan Henning on 3rd October, Islamic State seemed to disappear from Western media coverage. This is due in part to numerous other issues arising; reports of Russian tanks moving into Ukraine; the Ebola outbreak; and the sentencing of trialed athlete Oscar Pistorius. However, this most recent tragedy has catapulted them back into the public eye.

Home Secretary Theresa May has labelled the extremist group as a “deadly threat” to national security. But what influence do they actually have in the Middle East?

Kurdistan = area of Islamic State influence

It is clearly shown from this map, that the main focus of Islamic State influence is in Turkey. It is probable that this is due to Turkey’s higher level of interaction with the Western World, potentially giving IS a clear run at European soil. That being said, there is also strong presence in Iraq and Iran.

One thing here, which is very interesting to note, is the significantly smaller IS control in Syria. Many political analysts, such as Nick Robinson, have said that this is down to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s organisation of his military forces.

To cast your minds back 12 months… Syria was considered the major threat to the Western balance of power, as it came under accusations of using chemical weapons. Negotiations were held with President Assad, but seemingly nothing came from it.

Now, with the threat from Islamic State becoming an increasingly larger issue, it would seem that (although politicians would never admit it) the world’s leading states would prefer to have President Assad in power than a religious extremist group. The saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend‘ seems appropriate here since the UN Security Council members (USA, UK, China etc) clearly don’t trust Assad, but know that the alternative is much worse.