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CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ ISLAMIC STATE, AN ACTOR THREATENING PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
this movement and its supporters was to proclaim a “caliphate”, a state governed in
accordance with Islamic law.1
In the following lines we shall concentrate both on the history and the reasons for
the establishment of the Islamic state as well as on a legal analysis of the character of
the Islamic state. Then the reaction and actions of the international community to
surpress and defeat the Islamic state. Attention will be paid to the role of individuals
in relation to the Islamic state.
1. History and the establishment of the Islamic state
The actor called the Islamic state has a relatively rich history; its foundations go
back to 1999, when the organization called Organization of Monotheism and Jihad
was founded. An important moment for the rise of radical Islam was the invasion
into Afganistan in 2001 (under the name Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF-A),
which was a result of terrorist attacks in the USA in September 2001. American and
British forces attacked Afghanistan; the objective was to eliminate training camps of the
Taliban and al Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the attacks in September 2001
and its leader Osama bin Laden. The allied troops weakened the position of the Taliban
but only for a short limited time. This intervention in Afghanistan, as well as the
one in Iraq, led to a proliferation of radicals, which strengthens the position of the
Islamic state.
Another important event which became the basis for the rise of radical Islam in
the Middle East was the invasion of American troops with the support of British
troops into Iraq in 2003 (operation Iraq Freedom). The objective of the operation
was to overthrow the dictator Saddam Hussein, who according to the Americans did
not cooperate with the international community and disposed of weapons of mass
destruction.2 Poor understanding of the region where the invasion was aimed led to
the destruction of power in Iraq and the dispersion of the Iraqi army, which gave
way to radical Islam, that attracted many dissatisfied citizens but also many former
members of the Iraqi army. Radical Islam, which until then was under the control
of the Hussein administration, flourished into the Organization of Monotheism
and Jihad, which became the basis for the steady rise of the future Islamic state. At
present, for example, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair realizes
that the invasion led to these consequences, and he presents this publicly.3
1 TAUER, Felix. Svět islámu: jeho dějiny a kultura: nástin politického, sociálního, hospodářského a kulturní-
ho vývoje zemí, do nichž proniklo učení arabského proroka, od jeho vystoupení do konce první světové války.
1. vyd. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1984. 301, p. 33-34.
2 Afghánistán a Irák byly zbytečné války. Myslí si to každý třetí americký veterán. [online].
Hospodářské noviny, 2011 [cit. 2016-06-11]. Available at:
c1-53114700-afghanistan-a-irak-byly-zbytecne-valky-mysli-si-to-kazdy-treti-americky-veteran.
3 Tony Blair apologises for Iraq War mistakes and accepts invasion had part to play in rise of Islamic
State. The Telegraph [online]. The Telegraph, 2015 [cit. 2016-06-11]. Accessible at: http://www.