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Evan Gardell
Mrs. Barnes
English 112
6 April 2015
The Global Threat of the Islamic State
ISIS is not an everyday group of terrorists that have extremist ideas. Instead, they are a
highly organized, highly sophisticated and highly funded machine with a goal of ruling the world
and eliminating Christianity. ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and was founded
in April 2013 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, due to their expansionist goals, the Islamic
State is their newly adopted name because they wish to expand on a vast scale in a short time.
But, due to them still only holding control in Iraq and Syria, for sake of clarity, they will be
referred to ISIS. The chilling fact is that in a recently published map, ISIS intends to control
nearly half of Africa, Asia and Europe in only five years time. This includes Rome, the home of
the most recognizable living figure in Christianity, Pope Francis, who has already been
threatened to be killed by ISIS. The fact of the matter is that the Islamic State is not just a threat
to the Middle East, but the world entirely; therefore, this situation must require global
intervention.
Firstly, the expansionist mindset must be discussed to understand the truly global threat
of ISIS. Their mindset around expansionism is not just based upon weapons and combat.
However, ISIS intends to spread their anti-Christian ideas to all corners of the globe. Yet, the
threat of armed conflict is still vastly present. ISIS recently published map of their planned
territorial conquest by the year 2020. In this map, it shows how in just five years, ISIS plans to
control all of the Middle East, along with half of Africa and Europe (Curry). This absolutely will

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not become true or this threat be eradicated without the loss of countless lives. The real tactic
that ISIS uses to spread ideas globally is the use of the media.
Furthermore, as previously mentioned is how ISIS spreads their ideas across borders.
ISIS enjoys the spotlight. Unlike past terrorist organizations, ISISs plans, goals and operations
are very much out in the open. This, in turn is drawing a vast amount of public attention. The
most prominent of these ISIS displays have been the brutal killings of Christians that have been
made public through media attention. This has already swayed many across the world, including
people in the United States to pledge allegiance to ISIS and plan or take action. Three men in the
United States have already been arrested forattempting to join ISIS and of fostering plans to kill
the President and shoot law enforcement officers (Payne). Also, in France, these plans have
actually been executed as was seen in the Paris attacks. These were both claimed by Al-Qaeda
and ISIS. Even with this partial split, it still shows how the ideas of ISIS have spread and their
propaganda is in fact, working. But the issue driving the surge of ISIS is a planned genocide of
Christians.
ISIS has not hidden that they are an anti-Christian organization and that Christians will be
forced to convert or die. This is told first hand by Issah Al Qurain in which ISIS fighters,took all
his money - then his wife and children (Logan), until he converted to Islam. Also, Christian
homes are marked with a symbol. This was a tactic used in genocides, including by the Nazis in
World War One to the Jews. As of now, it seems as though that these Christians can avoid death
by conversion; however, the Holocaust didnt start with the killings of the Jews. When combined
with the expansionist goals of ISIS, this could be a disastrous scenario for Christians in the
Middle East and further. To prevent this from happening, military action is being taken.

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There is military action being taken; however, no boots have been put on the ground as
ordered by any country. The military action is primarily through aerial support. The United States
have led an air campaign along with Egypt. It has,killed thousands of militants and destroyed
tons of their equipment (Michaels), but there has been no slowing the ISIS front. Therefore, the
question will continue to be asked of whether or not there needs to be boots on the ground. There
are two clear sides and arguments to these points, yet it is unknown if this will happen in the
future. All that is known is that the threat of ISIS is real and there needs to be global attention as
the threat of ISIS is one on a global scale.
So, in conclusion, the threat of ISIS is clearly not just affecting the Middle East, but it is
one that has global implications and requires global attention. This threat must be eliminated
before the conflict quickly turns into genocidal proportions. Whether that is through men in boots
is unclear as of now, but everyone can agree upon one thing: ISIS must be stopped.

Works Cited
Logan, Lara. "Iraq's Christians Persecuted by ISIS." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 22 Mar. 2015.

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Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Michaels, Jim. "Islamic State Expands despite U.S.-led Air Campaign." USA Today. Gannett, 16
Feb. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Payne, Ed, Catherine Shoichet, and Ray Sanchez. "3 Men Try to Join ISIS." CNN.
Cable News Network, 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.