The Geopolitics Review

It is common knowledge that the internment and detention of thousands of Iraqis following the invasion led to the eventual formation of the group we call Islamic State. We understand why the insurgents in Iraq, and Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan fought NATO/ISAF forces for over 20 years. But how did IS recruit so many people to fight for this putrid, diabolical cause? Well, the recruitment principals that led to people flying from all over the world to join ISIS aren’t so different to the recruitment methods used by far-right extremist groups and conspiracy theory groups like QAnon to recruit people for their own causes. This article will explain why.    There are a remarkable number of parallels that can be drawn between recruitment methods of IS and of QAnon and other groups. Not necessarily with the same ideology, but with the same principals of playing on peoples anger and grievances. Islamic States recruitment methods revolved around making its potential follower...

 I figured that given a lot of us are in some kind of restrictive environment or lockdown, I would stick up some excellent books to read/peruse/put on your bookshelf and admire!  Admittedly this is something I regularly do. I see a book that I KNOW will be a really good read. I hastily buy it, wait with mounting anticipation and when it arrives, baulk at the size of it, mutter 'I don't have time to read this at the moment' then stick it on the bookshelf and think 'that looks bloody great there'.  But now I have no excuse...  Stuck in lockdown with not much to do apart from write essays and watch Netflix, I figured now is a great time to start reading these books that have sat on the shelf for months/years. and too be honest, I am quite proud I have read so many of them over the past year. very few of them are light reading and require a pretty hefty level of concentration to read and more crucially, understand.  So, following that ramble, here is my list of book...

Asymmetric warfare is defined by the RAND corporation as “conflicts between nations or groups that have disparate military capabilities and strategies”. [1]   The most prominent examples that the US has been involved in have been the Vietnam War and the War in Afghanistan.   Throughout the history of warfare and the United States, there has been a constant to-and-fro between success that the US military has had in symmetrical warfare and the failures suffered when engaging in asymmetric warfare. Successes have been found in key conflicts throughout recent history like the First and Second World Wars and the First Gulf War. These have all been symmetrical wars, where all parties involved have been relatively similarly matched in ability and numerical power. However, when the US has found itself involved in asymmetric wars with adversaries such as the Vietcong, Insurgents in Iraq, and terror organizations in Afghanistan, they have struggled to defeat the enemy. This especially c...

Human trafficking has in one form or another existed since people have traded and fought. From taking slaves from a conquered army and region to colonial slave trade all the way to modern-day child trafficking and sex trafficking. The best way to understand how massive the human trafficking industry is, here are some statistics:    ·        40 million people worldwide are affected by human trafficking and modern slavery    ·        25 million people are in some form of forced labour   ·        15 million women and children in forced marriages   ·        1 In every 192 people today are in some form of exploitation    ·        Women and girls account for about 70% of all cases of modern slavery    ·        1 in 4 victims of forced labour is a migrant – 10s of mil...