Press Release
A video of the panel discussion on ISIS, hosted by the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School, on October 23, 2014. NPR International Correspondent Deborah Amos and HLS Professor Noah Feldman discussed the extremist group's rapid rise, unique characteristics, and ideological and logistical background in a panel moderated by ILSP Co-Director and HLS Professor Kristen Stilt.
The discussion touched on numerous aspects of ISIS, including nomenclature, ex-Baathists in the group, administrative prowess, military strategy, and economic and social motivators for those who join. Ms. Amos used recent experiences on the ground to demonstrate why local populations are succumbing to or supporting ISIS. Dr. Feldman also looked at the group's ideology in the context of radical Islamist jihadi movements worldwide and the group's origins in an al-Qaeda offshoot. The panelists also talked about U.S. and International strategies for short- and long-term containment and defeat of ISIS.
View the full event recording here:
For more on the Islamic Legal Studies Program, click here. For an article from the Harvard Gazette on the event, click here. And for an interview with Deborah Amos from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, click here.