Identify a significant international event which took place in the last year and explain why you think it was important.
The Fall of Mosul
Iraq is an oil-rich country with rich history and great cultural diversity. It is situated in the ancient region of Mesopotamia, which is considered the cradle of human civilization. When we study Iraq, as a country, we learn that different ethnic groups settle in different parts of the country. For instance, the Kurds are settled in the northern areas of Iraq, whereas south of the country is predominantly Shia. The Sunnis, which is the second largest sectarian group, are concentrated in central Iraq. For a good long period, these groups have to go existed in peace and harmony with one another; however, there have been periods, when these groups fought bitterly with one another, based on ethnicity and sectarianism. Though, since the invasion of Iraq, in 2004, the sectarian and ethnic rift gotten stronger and because of imprudent policies of the weak Iraqi government, Nouri al-Maliki, groups like Al-Qaeda emerged, which evolved into ISIS; a more sinister terrorist group that was able to capture large territory of Iraq(Al-Ali).
This loss of territory, to a terrorist group, started to yield various kinds of challenges for state and government of Iraq. ISIS used the captured territory to establish an economy, which could fund its operations. It must also be acknowledged that captured territory was rich in oil and minerals, which gave much-needed finance/money to sustain the caliphate to and conduct various kinds of operations in Iraq and elsewhere. ISIS also used this money to recruit more soldiers to fight in Iraq, Syria, and Libya.
These developments forced Iraq’s government to take serious and decisive action against ISIS, which was expanding at that time. Iraqi government devised the plan to take Mosul back from ISIS, which was the second largest city of Iraq and had a symbolic significance for both ISIS and Iraqi government. For the liberation of Iraq, Kurds, the Iraqi government, Iran-backed militias, UK, France, and they worked together and was able to liberate the city at a very high cost. As per some estimates, around 40, 000 civilians lost their lives, and around 1 million were displaced during the operation(BBC News).
The liberation of Mosul has great significance, as Iraqi government not only took back captured areas but also brought down the morale of IS fighters. ISIS, as a caliphate or empire, was a threat to the entire region, as it had the intention to import both terror and its brand of religion. Therefore, it was imperative to address this existential threat, in the form of ISIS, to ensure stability in the Middle East.
The region, Middle East, is very unstable currently and it is because the states are disintegrating. It is allowing groups like ISIS to emerge and fill the vacuum. These groups are the products of chaos and mayhem. They befit from chaos and therefore, they desire chaos and turmoil. Also, this group had an expansionary agenda, which would have affected not just the region, but the entire world. Therefore, Mosul operation or the effort of liberal Mosul was an extraordinary event. Currently, Iraq, as a country, is stabilizing and its stability is positively impacting the region. However, it is also true that there remain pockets of ISIS in Iraq, which will require more military-political efforts to eliminate them.
To effectively counter this menace, it is essential to take such political-economic actions, which address the factors that play a role in the emergence and sustenance of such groups. It is imperative because all the studies, related to the emergence of ISIS, suggest that it was failures in the political realm, which created an environment that facilitated the birth such violent group constituted by the individuals from all around the world.
Work Cited
Al-Ali, Zaid. “How Maliki Ruined Iraq.” Foreing Policy. Foreign Policy, 9 June 2014. Web. 19 January 2018. http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/19/how-maliki-ruined-iraq/.
BBC News. “How the battle for Mosul unfolded.” BBC News. BBC News, 10 July 2017. Web. 19 January 2018. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37702442.
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