Research Proposal on Foreign Fighters in Iraq & Syria: The Rise of ISIS & Al-Qaeda

Introduction

The dramatic increase of foreign fighters within the boundaries of Iraq and Syria ever since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war tend to cause a considerable deal of concern whereby individuals are engaged in extreme terrorist attacks such as ISIS. The Islamic State, which is also referred to as ISIL, ISIS, or Daesh, tends to be the remnants of the famous terrorist group Al Qaeda, which was founded in 2004 by Abu Musab. Al Qaeda began to fade in obscurity in the year 2007 after the United States troop surged Iraq (Nacos 168). In 2011, the terrorist group began to reemerge by taking advantage of the political instability that was in Iraq and Syria, whereby they carried out their attacks. In 7th August 2014, a United States-led coalition entered into the regions of Iraq and began their airstrikes, and on the following month, the troops had expanded their striking campaign in Syria.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Over the next year, the troop had already conducted over 8, 000 strikes both in Syria and Iraq whereby ISIS suffered major loses alongside Syria's and Turkey's borders. The focus of the campaign of the U.S led troop had shifted to the Eastern region of Syria whereby Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Kurds backed them, and they successfully captured major ISIS regions (Svendsen 264). On 19th December 2018, the president of the United States Donald Trump declared that the terrorist organization had been defeated and placed an order to withdraw all the U.S troops that were supporting the SDF in Syria. The United States together with allied forces were able to liberate most of the territory that was captured by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, but IS leadership remains at large whereby they are evolving and IS fighters continue to attempt attacks in Europe and other places (Eriksson 119).

Research Design

A descriptive research method under the qualitative research design would be appropriate according to the topic of study. Options within the study would include interviews, questionnaires and opinions as to the proper tools and instruments of data collection. Qualitative analysis tends to be effective since the collected data will be useful in concluding the existing implications of International Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism Strategies on defeating ISIS on Iraq and what then respondents think about the same.

Research Questions

Another wave of violence could have the possibilities of engulfing in Iraq no for long but a matter of months if stabilization activities are not adequately handled. The gains that have already been earned through international cooperation should be consolidated through effective stabilization measures to secure peace within the nation. The following research questions will be used to guide the research on the various implications of international cooperation towards counter-terrorism:

• What are the crucial requirements towards achieving lasting peace in Iraq after the primary combat operations that took place in Iraq?
• What are the primary concepts required in addressing post-conflict security, reconciliation, and resurrection of the city life?
• How do the issues related to Mosul operations prepare nations in combining efforts to bring an end to terrorism?
• How were the efforts going to assist individuals that were directly affected by the war?
• How are various allies of the United States ensured that they support the country towards criminalizing terrorism?
• How will international countries improve their legislation to ensure that they counter-attack the first financial aiders towards terrorism?

The Qualitative Approach of the Study

Qualitative case study research design will be effective since there tends to be very little research on the study topic, henceforth by using regression as a form of quantitative analysis would not provide the in-depth information of the subject as well as the research questions. Besides qualitative research design brings out the comparison of the various legislations between the related countries.

Acquiring accurate information of the case study of International Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism Strategies on Defeating ISIS in Iraq tends to be effective compared to creating a scale of measure on the various impacts of international counter-terrorism. Although various Islamic state leaders have come upon to claim to endorse multiple attacks that have occurred across a wide geographical area, the function of the IS leader in planning, directing or even aiding given attacks has significantly varied depending on accounts that are publicly available. Henceforth, qualitative analysis is useful in learning the various considerations that motivate terrorism and the appropriate method to input to ensure that peace is mandatory among the people of Iraq.

Works Cited

Eriksson, Jacob. "International and Regional Dimensions of Iraq's Post-ISIS Recovery." Iraq After ISIS. Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2019. 111-125.

Monaco, Lisa. "Preventing the Next Attack: a strategy for the War on Terrorism." Foreign Aff. 96 (2017): 23.

Nacos, Brigitte L. Terrorism and counterterrorism. Routledge, 2016.

Svendsen, Adam DM. "Developing International Intelligence Liaison Against Islamic State: Approaching "One for All and All for One"?." International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 29.2 (2016): 260-277.