The West’s War Against Islamic State: Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria and Iraq

by Andrew Mumford

On the 29th of June 2014 ISIS declared the establishment of a caliphate stretching across territories in Iraq and Syria. In response, Operation Inherent Resolve, a US-led 77 nation coalition, was launched to respond to the threat of Islamic State. The West's War Against Islamic State offers the first history of Operation Inherent Resolve and the West's war against ISIS, from its inception in 2014 to the fall of Raqqa in 2017.

Andrew Mumford offers a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the military campaign deployed against ISIS in Syria and Iraq by examining the West's strategic objectives as well as the conflicting interests of rival powers, namely Russia, Iran and Turkey. By examining individual operational components of this military engagement such as drone usage, cyber warfare, special forces operations and sponsorship of guerrilla forces, this book offers a unique insight into the nature of modern warfare.

Genres: History

192 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2021

Reviews

[Katie]

An exceptionally insightful, helpful, and early addition to the evaluation of western political, financial, and military efforts utilised in an attempt to 'defeat' ISIS. Academically sound and yet written with clarity, it contains both a deeply perceptive eye for analysis and interesting facts. For instance:

- after a $500 million US effort to train Syrian rebels against ISIS, by 2015 only ‘four or five’ were actually fighting the caliphate.
- French Special Forces would hunt down French nationals fighting for ISIS before handing over their details to Iraqi forces, lest France become directly implicated in killing her own citizens.
- From 2016 to 2018, ISIS territory went from being the size of the United Kingdom to that of downtown Manhattan.

A must-read!

[Ruslan]

I received prior access to the book, for which I am extremely grateful. The book is a very good overview of the actions of the international coalition against ISIS and all the challenges that continue to exist today.

The author examines in detail the formation of the coalition and the almost immediate problems it faces - such as being seen as "American" and a number of countries, although applying, inactive, or having their own policies without coordination.

Problems with regional and global players such as Russia, Turkey, and Iran are discussed too - each of these countries has its own goals and ways to achieve them. The author also gives a good prognosis and why ISIS is still not destroyed.