CLASH OF TITANS: febbraio 2015

sabato 28 febbraio 2015

ISIS: is arising a new titan?

"Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.” Napoleon Bonaparte

When someone thinks about a state and lives in a stable area of the world, he sometimes can forget that states are born and die because they are a product of human being after all. In addition nations are not created as a consequence of a treaty or of an international recognition by other countries, but they often have to fight in order to obtain its own existence. An example of that is the appearance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East and North Africa.

The last wars and revolutions in the Middle East have weakened the countries of the area. The USA invaded Iraq in 2003 destroying the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein that was executed in 2006. From now on Iraq became a very fragile state. More recently the Arab spring broke out and civil wars began in Libya and in Syria where, in the first case, the old regime fell and ,in the second case, the state lost control of part of its territory. The lack of power, authority and identity in these countries created an empty space that was filled by ISIS. In fact, the Islamic state has a strong ideology, a well-organized army and relevant economic resources in comparison to Iraq, Syria and Libya, and so it began its expansion.

ISIS uses various types of war at the same time in order to expand its power and stabilize its authority: it commits genocides against ethnic and religious groups, it spreads its influence towards Muslim young generations with propaganda, it uses terrorist attacks and public execution to scare people of the Middle East, but also to shock world public opinion. In addition the Islamic State can count on a good communication strategy and on a global net of members and sympathizers.

The consequence is an incredible attention towards ISIS and its expansion nowadays, but all this attention and the aggressive strategy have generated many enemies that try to stop the military and mental conquests of ISIS. Only in the next months (or years?) it will become clear what will happen in the liquid scenario of the Middle East and North Africa.

A brief introduction

The political-diplomatic clashes

Are International politics always headed for growing State power in a background of “all against all” war? We obviously hope that they are not. In fact in theory International politics and diplomacy can be done for peaceful purposes or in order to improve a State condition not at the expenses of another. Nevertheless alliances or a particular geopolitical strategy also are implemented in order to isolate or to take position against a State or a group of States. An historical example about that are the attempts of Germany to isolate France through a system of alliances at the end of XIX century. In addition Germany drew up an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882. In 1907 the answer to the will of power of Germany by France, UK and Russia was the creation of the Triple Entente that took position against the Triple Alliance.

The economic clashes

As mentioned, the clash between states can also be played on the level of economic relations. One of the leading interpreters of this policy is certainly Germany that has often led the fight on the level of economic relations: the historical periods in which it has been most evident were the '80s with the creation of the European Monetary System (E.M.S.) and in recent years with the rise of the single currency, the Euro. The E.M.S. was a monetary mechanism that forced states parties to align their currency exchange rates. It favored the German power because its currency was strong and penalized its exports in favor of states, such as Italy, which had a weak currency, and if needed, they could also devalue to encourage exports. This situation has generated strong international tensions between state parties and led to a rapid dismantling.

The cultural clashes

In a background of power politics, a state who wants to use its cultural authority has the goal to expand its sphere of influence to impose its hegemony to another civilization, not in a military but cultural way. The cultural clashes are therefore conflicts between states with different cultures and different civilizations.
The Cold War was a perfect example of this policy: the two blocks in opposition represented two very different civilizations, who preached the supremacy over the other. The creation of the Warsaw Pact and the NATO arose from the need to tie closely the states who were more similar to their own idea of civilization.