Thesis advisor: David DiPasquale / This paper examines the role that media plays in the state building strategy of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Research findings suggest that ISIS is not merely a disorderly group of militants, but is a sophisticated organization driven by powerful religious and political ideas. The goal of my research is to tap into the intellectual face of ISIS, to uncover ISIS's own arguments and state building aspirations. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of ISIS, this paper examines how ISIS spreads its message and analyzes the significance of that message as it relates to state formation. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Arts and Sciences Honors Program. / Discipline: Islamic Civilization and Societies.

Thèse--Paris. / "Edition mise à jour." Bibliographie: p. [401]-408

Magister Legum - LLM / The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a jihadist militant group. The members of this militant group have committed criminal acts of unspeakable cruelty. These staggering criminal conducts are documented by the United Nations, international human rights organisations, and media. Besides, the group itself gives first-hand information through social media and its magazine. Having witnessed the atrocities committed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the United Nations Security Council affirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s conduct in Syria and Iraq is a threat to international peace and security. Therefore, the media and various role players have called for the intervention of International Criminal Court. This research paper analyses whether the International Criminal Court is a viable prosecutorial option to account the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members for their crimes. For the Court to be a viable prosecutorial avenue, it must have a jurisdiction. Accordingly, this research paper critically examines whether the International Criminal Court has subject matter, personal and/or territorial jurisdictions to try the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant perpetrators. The study concludes that although the criminal conducts by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members constitute crimes under the Rome Statute, the Court, however, has limited jurisdictional reach over the perpetrators. It is submitted that with a limited and fragmented territorial and personal jurisdictional reach over the perpetrators, the Court is not a viable prosecutorial avenue. / German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

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The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) garnered global news media attention in Summer 2014 when it seized a significant section of land in Iraq and Syria. The group then mishandled and executed its captives. There is a lack of consensus among the international community, led by Russia and the United States, on how best to address the threat posed by ISIS. An understanding of the function of Russian and U.S. news media coverage of the ISIS threat is an appropriate research topic. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study was to explore how the U.S, Russian, and Qatari news media represented ISIS between May 1, 2014, and May 1, 2015. The theoretical framework for this study was the agenda-setting theory. The research questions centered on how 3 news media outlets from the 3 countries represented ISIS within this time frame. The study design was a qualitative deductive content analysis with purposeful sampling. Data were coded in a binary manner and analyzed using the data software program Dedoose. Themes identified in the analysis were mitigation, insecurity, foreign fighters, responsibility, and propaganda. The results of this study suggest that there are similarities and differences in Russian, Qatari, and U.S. media outlets' depiction of ISIS between May 1, 2014, and May 1, 2015, which can be explained by agenda-setting theory. The significance of this study is twofold. First, the information arising from the study may influence social change by assisting counterterrorism officials and policy makers in making informed decisions about how to mitigate the ISIS threat. Second, this study contributes to the existing literature on ISIS and its global media representation for future researchers.

This thesis represents a comprehensive analysis of the geographical and geopolitical position of the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) as an official political institution of the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI). Firstly, it focuses on the internal issues of this institution and its division between two main Iraqi Kurdish political parties: KDP and PUK. Secondly, it examines the form of the relationships between the KRG and central government in Baghdad. The regional position of the KRG is explained by capturing the relationships among the KRG, the governments of the key regional countries (Turkey, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel) and important Kurdish political parties operating in this area (PKK, PYD, PJAK, HDP, ENKS and KDPI). Thirdly, the global actors (United States of America, Russian Federation and China) and their position towards the Iraqi Kurds, is also included. And finally, this thesis deals with the problematics of the Kurdish referendum of independence in 2017 and the role of ISIS as an "game changing" actor in the regional dynamics. This thesis builds on extensive search of scientific literature (about 70 titles), field research in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in the form of the interviews with 20 respondents and media reports on this topic and region. Additionally, this thesis...