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Representational Practices of Rebel Governance
Köbke, Stefan ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Tesař, Jakub (referee)
Representational Practices of Rebel Governance Much of the literature on rebel governance has been focusing on the material factors that influence rebel activities. However, rebels frequently engage in practices that have no clear material benefit. Instead, these are meant to increase their legitimacy with certain groups, by representing a normative conception of authoritative rule. This thesis offers a process-based theoretical framework for understanding these "representational practices" by considering them as acts of communication from rebel senders to their audiences. To this extent, rebels frame themselves as continuous, time-transcendent rulers (content) within authoritative normative frameworks (contexts) and use various "artifacts" and bodily movement as "channels" to transmit these claims. This model is then applied to an interpretive, single-case study of the "Islamic State" rebels in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017. It is found that the model can explain many of the IS's activities. The group framed its ideas of time-transcendent rule in millenarian and apocalyptic contexts, had to adapt its messages to different audiences (such as local civilians and foreign fighters), and communicated its claims not only through internet posts, but also through a careful control of sites within...
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Influence of the US Foreign Policy on Syria Conflict
Hrudka, Tomáš ; Zukerstein, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with american foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically how it reflects on the civil war in Syria. For the United States the Middle East region represents one of the most strategically important areas in the world since the end of World War II with their main interests being security of one of their main allies, Israel, and also access to rich middle eastern oil reserves. Destabilization of the region caused by the civil war in Syria of course presents a risk for these american interests. The rise of radical islamic terrorist organization called the Islamic State (IS) as one of its actors, became a pretext for the US entry into the conflict. Although the United States do not participate directly in Syrian civil war, have an impact on its development through support for certain organizations, military intervention in Iraq and other policy instruments. The thesis analyzes the ways in which American policy has affected the development of the conflict in Syria without entering it directly . The main questions the thesis answers are: To what extent US foreign policy in the region affects the course of the Syrian conflict? How is the US involved in the conflict and what political or other tools they use? How did the participation of the United States in the conflict...
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Engagement of Obama's Administration in the Syrian Civil War
Prouza, Tadeáš ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The Master Thesis Engagement of Obama's Administration in the Syrian Civil War is dealing with the role of the United States in the conflict. This work studies the approach of Obama's administration toward the situation in country from the beginning of the revolution until the end of president's second tenure. It analyzes the development of this approach and key events that influenced its shape. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first is dealing with the background of the crisis, historical development of relations between the US and Syria and the broader context of Obama's Middle East policy. The second part analyzes specific period of time between the start of the revolution until 2014. It follows key events that had profound effect on the inner dynamics of the conflict and phenomenon that were shaping the situation in Syria, like the rising influence of the radicals among the opposition. It also analyzes in detail the chemical attack in Ghouta from 2013, which almost led Washington to direct intervention and is regarded as one of the most important events in Obama's foreign policy. The third part is dealing with the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) and American-led intervention against this terrorist organization. The thesis was written with the help of different sources such as...
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Analysis of ISIS's Insurgency through the theory of Revolutionary Warfare
Piunti, Amerigo ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
Analysis of ISIS's Insurgency through the theory of Revolutionary Warfare, by Amerigo Piunti. Ever since the collapse of the brutal Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein, the Sunnis of Iraq were struggling as a minority in a nation governed by Shia. The government of Baghdad was constantly ignoring Sunni's grievances, and for many experts, this aspect was a driving point that led to the establishment of the IS Caliphate. Contrary to popular belief, the so-called Islamic State appeared only for the first time in October 2006. Abū Musʿab al-Zarqāwī was the founder and first tenacious leader of the special detachment called "Al-Qaeda in Iraq." This group later on mutated itself into the notorious Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and it obtained support from international sympathizers and local citizens. The terror group successfully recruited local tribes, experienced fighters and leaders, previous members of the Baathist regime, and it even cooperated with other Jihadists groups. The terror group itself also heavily relied on the spread of Jihadist-Salafist propaganda and eventually created an urgent need for a drastic change in society. The group then expanded its insurgency activities towards Syria, and after only eight years of fighting, it successfully covered each of the necessary stages to...
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The Islamic Petroleum State: A study of US-Led airstrikes against ISIS's oil network in Iraq and Syria
de Rooij, Mats Julian ; Dowd, Caitriona (advisor) ; Špelda, Petr (referee)
Dissertation Mats de Rooij Charles University Student Number: 17287595 ABSTRACT Keywords: ISIS oil financing strategy-making third-party interventions United States This dissertation will explore the US-led coalition's strategy for disrupting ISIS's oil network in Iraq and Syria. Scholars have debated the desirability of third-party interventions and strategies for countering financing structures of violent non- state actors. However, remarkably limited research exists on ISIS's estimated largest source of revenue during the existence of its caliphate: the production and distribution of petroleum. This study will therefore introduce a framework for analysing the military response enacted by the US-led coalition between September 2014 and October 2017. It will do so through a mixed method study that includes the first-hand generation and analysis of a dataset containing 5,768 unique data points that present both an insight into the strategy behind the strikes and vulnerabilities in ISIS's oil network. Findings demonstrate how the coalition was able to exploit vulnerabilities specifically in the production, transportation, and refinement stages of the production chain. It will be argued that, as the campaign proceeded, the coalition became increasingly willing to take risks of collateral damage as a...
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Engagement of Obama's Administration in the Syrian Civil War
Prouza, Tadeáš ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The Master Thesis Engagement of Obama's Administration in the Syrian Civil War is dealing with the role of the United States in the conflict. This work studies the approach of Obama's administration toward the situation in country from the beginning of the revolution until the end of president's second tenure. It analyzes the development of this approach and key events that influenced its shape. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first is dealing with the background of the crisis, historical development of relations between the US and Syria and the broader context of Obama's Middle East policy. The second part analyzes specific period of time between the start of the revolution until 2014. It follows key events that had profound effect on the inner dynamics of the conflict and phenomenon that were shaping the situation in Syria, like the rising influence of the radicals among the opposition. It also analyzes in detail the chemical attack in Ghouta from 2013, which almost led Washington to direct intervention and is regarded as one of the most important events in Obama's foreign policy. The third part is dealing with the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) and American-led intervention against this terrorist organization. The thesis was written with the help of different sources such as...
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Securitization of the Veteran Effect of Foreign Fighters from ISIS in Europe
Pěčková, Miroslava ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Ludvík, Zdeněk (referee)
The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine the securitization discourse used to construct the security threat coming from the veteran effect of the Islamic State's foreign fighters in Europe, and to see what kind of policies were adopted to counter it so far. The phenomenon of departing European citizens, who are becoming foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict, joining the ranks of the Islamic State, and then return back to their country of origin after having acquired combat experience or other training, has become a hot topic of discussion not only for academics, but also for politicians and ordinary citizens. To precise, this thesis is working with three main case studies, whose securitization discourse and security policies are analysed. These are: European Union, United Kingdom and France. The author was interested in finding out what similarities and differences can be found between the analysed countries, plus, whether there is some pattern of influence between the European Union and its member states in this area. The author of this thesis chose to use a comparative case study as a research design. It is useful to realize a contrast of contexts and therefore to discover specifics of the analysed cases. Two tables were created in order to clarify the operationalization of the analysed...
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