|
|
Targeted Killing as a Counterterrorism Instrument: Evaluating Impacts on The Islamic State and Al Qaeda
Štěpán, David ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Hynek, Nikola (referee)
This study analyzes targeted killing as a counterterrorism instrument and evaluates its impacts on the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in two separate case studies, one analyzing the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while the other assesses the impact of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The theory of leadership decapitation is applied in this thesis and the academic discourse on this theory is discussed. Additionally, moral and legal aspects of targeted killing are also briefly considered. The analysis combines a quantitative approach in the form of descriptive statistics of data regarding terrorist attacks with qualitative evaluation of other counterterrorism policies and political as well as societal aspects surrounding the operations. There are some general suggestions regarding leadership decapitation that are validated in this study. Various factors need to be considered when employing targeted killing in counterterrorism, such as the structure of the terrorist group as well as its age. This study presents evidence that targeted killing of high-ranking terrorist leaders is likely to increase the use of suicide bombing in the short-term period after leadership decapitation. It also points out evidence that there is no correlation between targeted killing and the decrease of casualties from terrorism....
|
|
|
The return of the daesh wives to their native lands - a new threat?
ZAMRAZILOVÁ, Michaela
The aim of the diploma thesis is to verify the hypothesis whether returning women (wives of jihadist fighters from the territory of the Islamic State) back to their home countries in Europe is a security threat to European society. Empirical-analytical method, comparative case study method and SWOT analysis are used in diploma thesis to help the author find answers to this hypothetical question. This diploma thesis deals with the approach of Islam as a religion, and also with the terrorist organization - Islamic State, which has used this religion for its fight against Western society. The thesis also approaches the issue of radicalization, including individual factors that precede radicalization. The topic of women's motivation and the subsequent decision of women to leave their home country in the territory of the so-called caliphate are also approached here. Based on available data from individual European countries, the author put forward an insight into how individual countries deal with the return migration of terorrists´ wives. Furthermore, how individual countries work with their possible counter-terrorist activity in the territory of a given European state. The main goal is to prepare sufficient data for analysis on the basis of available literature and reports, followed by evaluation of whether these women can be considered a security threat. The author also aims to provide the potential interested public with a better understanding of why women are radicalized, but also with a strong role these women can play in preventing radicalization process.
|
|
|
Animosity as Ideology? Analysis of the Construction of the "West" in the Discursive Strategy of the Islamic State
Hvězda, Martin ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Földes, Kristián (referee)
Examining the ideological nature of Islamist movements can indicate in some way the ideological motivations of their members and explain why they intend to devote their often young lives to hating and fighting their perceived enemy. The radical terrorist organization Islamic State (we use the alternative name Daesh in the work) currently represents the most visible form of Islamic radicalism, and its ideological origins are also the main subject of our research. During the analysis of the complex ideology of Daesh, the work focuses on its specific component in the form of an articulated struggle with the West and hateful criticism of Western society. The initial hypothesis, which is then empirically verified, is based on the assumption of the existence of the historical roots of this ideology in the form of Salafist jihadism and Wahhabi theological doctrine. Using postmodern theoretical approaches together with the application of Foucault's genealogical method, our work carries out historical research supported by elements of critical discursive analysis in order to clarify the roots and formation of the anti-Western discourse, which is used in such a clear way precisely in the ideology of Daesh. We attempt to trace the creation of a discursive strategy across the history of Islamic thought and...
|
|
|
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...
|
|
|
Political and geographical factors causing the rise and spread of Islamic state
Plešivčák, Peter ; Tomeš, Jiří (advisor) ; Boleček, Vít (referee)
This bachelors thesis focuses on establishment of the Islamic State, which led to the outbreak of armed conflict, humanitarian catastrophe and widespread population migrations. As the threat of destabilization of the entire Middle East, attracted the attention of many disciplines, including political geography. The aim of the work is the literature review and assess the geopolitical map sources, religious and social causes of the Islamic state and attempt to justify its geographic spreading based on these factors. The work is focused mainly on assessing the impact of religious, ethnic and socio-economic structure of Iraq and Syria and the importance of regional differentiation of these factors for the emergence and spread of Islamic State.
|
|
|
US Strategic communication towards Islamic state
Truchlá, Jana ; Beneš, Jan (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
The main topic of my bachelor thesis is illustration of public image and strategic communication towards ISIS of two US most recent presidents Obama and Trump. In the theoretical part of the bachelor thesis I will outline the basic description of the Islamic state as a terrorist aggressor and the threat of the West as opposed to US protective policy and leadership in the World Anti-Terrorist Coalition. In this part of thesis I would primarily try to depict the main concept of strategic communication, its forms and the differences between the notions strategic communication and propaganda. In the main part I will describe the activities and the ways of formulating US strategic communication actors to explain the individual steps during the war against ISIS for the relevant audience - US citizens. In particular I will concentrate on official political strategic communication of the US Presidents which I will demonstrate on the particular examples - presidential press conferences and releases. Among digital media, I will focus on using the Twitter social network as a phenomenon to implement diplomacy through tweets. The key point of the work will be a determination of the priorities of strategic communication in the timeframe of Obama's and Trump's term in office. Choosing this specific timeframe...
|
|
|
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...
|
|
|
The Threat of the Islamic State Terrorism in the Middle East and Beyond
Imanov, Toghrul ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
Bibliographic note Author. ISIS: Terrorist state or terrorist organization . 65 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Economic and Political Studies. Supervisor. Abstract The thesis deals with the investigation of the terrorist activities run by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an entity in the Middle East which is commonly referred to as a terrorist organization. By evaluating the activities run by ISIS in the seized territories, the organization of civil governance and public administration in them, the investigation of the propaganda model applied by ISIS for attracting new members from around the globe, and the analysis of the main sources of funding used by the Islamic State, the author proves that ISIS significantly differs from classical terrorist organizations, and therefore might be assigned the status of a terrorist state. Abstrakt Diplomová práce se zabývá. Keywords Insurgency, ISIS, Islamic State, propaganda, terrorism. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
|
|
|
The connectivity of an American invasion to Iraq in 2003 in relation to the current spread of the Islamic State in the Middle East region
Vejvodová, Nela ; Bečka, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
Islamic radicalism is currently one of the most debated topics worldwide. We got into a new era, which started at the beginning of the century by attack on World Trade Center in 2001 - later President Bush declared war on global terrorism. Organization of the Islamic State is a new form of radicalism, beyond both his cruelty, and even the number of foreign fighters who have joined them. It poses a huge threat to the fragile stability in the region and, by extension, in Europe. In the first part of my thesis entitled "The connectivity of an American invasion to Iraq in 2003 in relation to the current spread of the Islamic State in the Middle East region" I'm dealing with the US invasion of Iraq and in the second part I'm describing the emergence of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, the Islamic State afterwards. In the third section I'm analyzing the various factors and specific events that, in result, provide an answer to the question whether the invasion of Allied troops under the command of Americans is the only cause of the current crisis in Iraq, by extension, the entire Middle East region.
|
|
|
US cooperation with the Middle East in the fight against the Islamic state
Koláč, Vojtěch ; Calda, Miloš (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The Islamic State's phenomenon has been the subject of many analyses since its inception, and in 2018 it is a very dynamic, dynamic issue with a global dimension. The main goal of the bachelor thesis is to find out in what way the approach to defeating the "IS" in the four major powers, except the USA, also in the concepts of Russia, Iran and Turkey based on a search of available literature, domestic and foreign articles and analysis of elaborated strategic documents. The Middle East is a region where the interests of global actors meet the national interests of local powers. This work also aims to define the ways in which the Islamic State influences and influences the strategic interests of four selected actors: the United States of America, Russia, Turkey and Iran. Analytical and descriptive methods are used in the work. Because of the topicality of the issue, it is largely drawn from internet sources, in the form of expert analyses and newspaper articles, to a lesser extent from the final works and book publications.
|
guest ::
