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ÌÇÐÄÆÆ½â°æ students express their opinion about the challenges facing the global community.

Political Science Majors were asked: “What are the challenges facing the global community as it seeks to combatÌýthreats posed by ISIS?”

The following responses were obtained by Political Science Major Hugo Salazar.

Pietro Pisciotta, Junior: “The biggestÌýchallenges would be not justÌýbeating them back militarily butÌýdoing so with an end game inÌýmind so as to not create a powerÌývacuum that will lead to anotherÌýextremist group in the region. TheÌýproblem with the West’s foreignÌýpolicy in the region for the pastÌýfew decades has been going inÌýguns blazing without a plan for theÌýfuture.”

Liz Rilling, Senior: “I think theÌýbiggest challenge faced by theÌýglobal community is letting go ofÌýcertain identities as synonyms forÌýterrorism. Part of what has peopleÌýand the media erupting over ISISÌýis their shock that westerners-ÌýBritish, Americans, etc.- are involvedÌýin the group, as if thisÌýsomehow makes their acts evenÌýmore repulsive. Terrorism is terrorism,Ìýand if we ever intend toÌýovercome this threat we need toÌýstart accepting as a society thatÌýyou won’t always be able to identifyÌýthe enemy from the outside. IfÌýwe don’t, we will grow distrustfulÌýof our fellow citizens and begin toÌýproject racism upon outsiders phenomena Ìýthat will ultimately tearÌýus all apart.”

Mike Sonta, Freshman: “In termsÌýof this mounting ISIS issue that hasÌývirtually come to beleaguer notÌýonly our government, but a multitudeÌýof our allies’, I feel that it isÌýabsolutely paramount that we as aÌýglobal community must remainÌýperpetually cognizant of the perilsÌýand consequences of another longÌýterm commitment in the MiddleÌýEast, and ultimately, we must rejectÌýthe naiveté suggesting that anotherÌý“boots on the ground campaignâ€�Ìýwill serve as anything other than anÌýagent to destabilize an already precariousÌýregion. Additionally, weÌýmust remain vigilant to ensure thatÌýthe alliances that we do form toÌýdegrade the militant organizationÌýmust be trustworthy, as well asÌýsteadfast to the purpose at hand.ÌýThis process of training Syrian rebelsÌýmust be undertaken with appreciableÌýcare and caution as we doÌýnot wish to augment this alreadyÌýdynamic conflict.”

George Giakoumis, Junior: “IÌýthink the biggest challenge in dealingÌýwith ISIS is the inability to focusÌýany sort of combative effort onÌýa single area or region. BecauseÌýyou’re dealing with a group whichÌýhas roots in many different areas,Ìýeach of which has its own sovereignÌýpower, it’s exceedingly difficult to act with any semblance ofÌýforce.”

Jazmine Javier, Junior: “I thinkÌýone of the biggest challenges isÌýassessing sovereignty. On one handÌýthe global community wants toÌýcombat ISIS for humanitarian reasonsÌýyet the more it super imposesÌýsovereignty, the more it tends toÌýbackfire. Without a strong globalÌýfront on the issue, it would be veryÌýdifficult to enforce any type ofÌýcause for having boots on theÌýground or drones above it.”

Dylan Maraj, Sophomore: “OneÌýsuch problem are the agents of ISISÌýthat are already within the bordersÌýof multiple states. It was found thatÌýsupporters and the developers forÌýthe Web page that was for the soleÌýuse of promoting ISIS were AmericanÌýcitizens who studied at NortheasternÌýUniversity. To combat ISIS,Ìýthe global community must first beÌýwary of the agents that are alreadyÌýwithin their borders.”

Varun Gandhi, Sophomore: “ISISÌýis a new up-and-coming threat toÌýthe global world and should be handledÌýwith speed. The main issuesÌýsurrounding ISIS are that it’s a religiousÌýmilitary organization and itÌýhas growing numbers from manyÌýdifferent nations. America mustÌýwork with the governments of theseÌýnations if we want to suppress ISIS.”

This piece appeared in the ÌýFall 2014 edition.

For further information, please contact:

Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications DirectorÌý
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu

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