Oil and the Islamic State: Revisiting “Resource Wars” Arguments in Light of ISIS Operations and State-Making Attempts

IF 1.2 3区社会学 Q2 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Pub Date : 2023-08-03 DOI:10.1080/1057610X.2020.1846252

Philippe Le Billon

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引用次数: 4

Abstract

Abstract Debates over the relationship between natural resources and armed conflicts have flourished in the past two decades, but few studies have considered the case of oil and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. This paper reviews key scholarly arguments concerning the relationship between natural resources and armed groups, and examines the interrelationship between oil, armed conflict and ISIS. Building on this analysis, the paper offers insights into dilemmas of oil dependence for non-state armed groups controlling proto-states: specifically, while oil enabled ISIS to consolidate its attempts at establishing a de facto state, it also created vulnerabilities. Among these, U.S.-led forces deliberately targeted oil to deny ISIS’ attempts to achieve statehood, and to politically confine its status to that of a terrorist organization ruling over an oil rich and dangerous proto-state targeted for military and political eradication. These findings point to the value of nuanced analyses of relations between resource wars arguments and terrorism studies, as well as the need to more broadly consider the various political dimensions of natural resources in the study of armed conflicts and campaigns against terrorist organizations.

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石油和伊斯兰国:根据ISIS的行动和建立国家的企图重新审视“资源战争”的争论

在过去的二十年里，关于自然资源与武装冲突之间关系的争论非常激烈，但很少有研究考虑到石油与伊拉克和叙利亚的伊斯兰国之间的关系。本文回顾了有关自然资源与武装组织之间关系的主要学术论点，并考察了石油、武装冲突和ISIS之间的相互关系。在此分析的基础上，本文对控制原始国家的非国家武装组织对石油依赖的困境提出了见解:具体而言，虽然石油使ISIS能够巩固其建立事实上的国家的企图，但它也造成了脆弱性。其中，以美国为首的部队故意以石油为目标，以阻止ISIS建立国家的企图，并在政治上将其地位限制为一个恐怖组织，统治着一个石油丰富而危险的原始国家，目标是军事和政治上的根除。这些发现指出了对资源战争争论和恐怖主义研究之间关系进行细致分析的价值，以及在研究武装冲突和反对恐怖组织的运动时更广泛地考虑自然资源的各种政治层面的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Multiple-

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

10.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Terrorism and insurgency are now the dominant forms of conflict in the world today. Fuelled by moribund peace processes, ethnic and religious strife, disputes over natural resources, and transnational organized crime, these longstanding security challenges have become even more violent and intractable: posing new threats to international peace and stability. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism aims to cast new light on the origins and implications of conflict in the 21st Century and to illuminate new approaches and solutions to countering the growth and escalation of contemporary sub-state violence.