1. Introduction and Background
Over the past few years in the Middle East, the Arab Spring and its promise of democracy
gave way to civil wars in Libya and Syria, the re-imposition of military government in Egypt,
and the possibility of takeovers by religious fundamentalists influenced by various currents of
political Islam. For those people (myself included) hoping to see a positive outcome in the form
of new democratic governments throughout the Middle East, the aforementioned consequences
are all bitter pills to swallow. Nevertheless, the Arab Spring’s aftermath provides grim reminders
as to how war is still the “continuation of politics by other means” (Carl von Clausewitz).
Additionally, Iraq, a country-turned-battleground for a protracted, ill-conceived, and
disastrous war that began in spring 2003, has shown every sign of being a failed state. Those
signs have become more evident after the official and substantial withdrawal of US-American
military forces. Key characteristics include Sunni-Shia communalist strife and the rise of the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Furthermore, ISIS has been successfully waging struggles
in Iraq and Syria alike. Its two-front war may become a single-front conflict should its newly
proclaimed Islamic caliphate last long enough as a serious military and political entity. The
success of such a new regime demonstrates a viable form of political-religious nation-building
that is a product of insurgency and terrorism.
The above events mostly confirm and somewhat contradict the arguments by Professor
Miguel Centeno in “Lecture 8: Social Aspects of War: Nation State and Nationalism” and
“Lecture 10: The Rise of the Rest.”
Analysis
In Lecture 8, Centeno refers to the three contributions that war makes to society: 1) the
nation-state, 2) democracy and citizenship, and 3) social equality. He emphasizes the essential
relationship between the nation-state and modern warfare. For example, he touches on the
organizational efficiency that the state provides so that a society can militarily prepare for war.
That relationship between the state and warfare also applies to events in the Middle East, but
with some nuances.
As reports indicate, ISIS already declared its caliphate. It thus waged war in favor of its
desired form of government: a supranational political-religious state. Additionally, ISIS’s
commitment to a state that may be a theocracy calls into question the existence of democracy,
citizenship, and social equality thanks to modern warfare. Here, we can see the confirmation and
contradiction of Centeno’s arguments.
Although ISIS has established a state, albeit one that is not quite a nation-state, via military
means, it may not have realized other contributions like democracy, citizenship, and social

2. equality. However, to be fair and to provide perspective, Centeno, in this part of the course, was
speaking in a Western/European political-historical context and he had yet to touch on the “rise
of the Rest” and insurgency and terrorism, all of which became relevant in lecture 10.
As for the tenth lecture, Centeno’s arguments hold true. He includes the quote that
insurgency, guerrilla warfare, is a “war of the flea” that is meant to debilitate a more powerful, in
conventional military terms, enemy. This idea took on new life in the Middle East. The previous
section of this essay already provides two examples.
First, shortly after the Arab Spring began, Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Muammar al-
Gaddafi of Libya cracked down on nonviolent protests with extreme brutality. In turn, dissidents
of both countries turned to armed struggle and two civil wars started. Given that rebel forces did
not necessarily have the conventional means that their opponents had, insurgency became the
primary mode of struggle. However, in the Libyan case, rebel forces received French and US-
American military support.
Second, soon after the US-American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Ba’athist Party loyalists
and religious fundamentalists began their resistance. Likewise, they used guerrilla means to
combat US-American and allied occupation forces. As a result, Iraq became a Vietnam War-like
quagmire for the US-American government and its allies.
Furthermore, with the entrance of ISIS, the first and second examples have become
merged given that this particular religious fundamentalist organization has ably taken advantage
of the Arab Spring so as to fight on the rebels’ side of the Syrian civil war and to demolish the
US-American-backed post-Ba’athist/Saddam Hussein Iraqi government. Terrorism, alongside
insurgency, has become a key tactic for ISIS in light of its public mass executions of its
opponents. In this way, ISIS mirrors the Jacobin faction (known as the “Mountain”) that took
over in revolutionary France in 1792 – both groups, in their attempts to establish ideal states on
this earth (for ISIS, a theocracy, for the “Mountain” Jacobins, a republic), have resorted to terror
and pursued such a tactic to its logical end.
Thus, Centeno’s views in Lecture 10 have validity in relation to events in Iraq and Syria.
Conclusions
Although the Arab Spring has proven to be short-lived and the vaunted, disingenuous
neoconservative project of democratic nation-state construction in Iraq (and likewise
Afghanistan) has turned out to be a failure which exposed the ongoing imperial intentions of the
US-American government, important sociological insights on war continue to be relevant and
true. Furthermore, there may be new ideas to be had on war. In this case, we know what ISIS

3. established through insurgency and terrorism, thus confirming some notions we have had on war
while challenging others.
References:
Chulov, Martin and Rory Carroll. “Isis captures more Iraqi towns and border
crossings.” The Guardian. June 22, 2014.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/22/isis-take-border-crossings-iraq-
syria-jordan?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
Chulov, Martin, Fazel Hawramy, and Spencer Ackerman. “Iraq army capitulates to Isis
militants in four cities.” The Guardian. June 11, 2014.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/11/mosul-isis-gunmen-middle-east-
states?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
Peralta, Eyder. “Sunni Extremist Group ISIS Declares New Islamic Caliphate.” National
Public Radio. June 29, 2014. Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-
way/2014/06/29/326703823/al-qaida-splinter-group-isis-declares-new-islamic-caliphate
Schmitt, Eric and Alissa J. Rubin. “U.S. and Iraqis Try to Fragment Extremist
Group.” The New York Times. July 13, 2014.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/world/middleeast/us-and-iraqis-try-to-fragment-
extremist-group-.html
Tran, Mark. “Who are Isis? A terror group too extreme evenfor al-Qaida.” The
Guardian. June 11, 2014. Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/11/isis-too-
extreme-al-qaida-terror-jihadi