International Law and the War with Islamic State

Saeed Bagheri is Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Reading, United Kingdom.

I. Background and Significance of the Study
II. Research Questions and Analytical Framework
III. Plan of the Study
1. The Rise of Islamic State and Its Military Strength
I. Introduction
II. Islamic State at a Glance: General Observations
A. The Rise and Strength of Islamic State
B. The Legal Status of Islamic State
III. Islamic State’s Quest for Energy Resources in Iraq and Syria
A. The Correlation between Energy Resources and Armed Conflict: A Conceptual Framework
i. Dependency on Oil as a Major Source of National Income
ii. The General Impression of Scarcity in the International Oil Market
iii. The Emergence of Ethnic, Religious and Violent Movements
B. Insecurity and the Threat of Violence as the Costs of Failed Resource Management
C. The Potential Role of Energy Resources in Intensifying Islamic State’s Military Operations
IV. Concluding Remarks

2. The War with Islamic State as a Matter of Jus ad Bellum
I. Introduction
II. Military Interventions against Islamic State
A. Introductory Remarks
B. Motivating Factors in the War with Islamic State
i. The US-led Coalition’s Intervention against Islamic State in Syria
ii. Turkish Military Intervention against Islamic State
a. Constitution-based Requirement for Turkish Military Interventions
b. Military Intervention in Syria
c. Military Intervention in Iraq
C. The Effectiveness of the Extraterritorial Use of Force against Islamic State
III. Military Assistance on Request in the War with Islamic State
A. The Conceptual Framework of Military Assistance on Request
B. The Legality and Impact of Military Assistance in the War with Islamic State
i. US Military Assistance to Iraq
ii. Russian and Iranian Military Assistance to Syria
IV. Concluding Remarks

3. The Legality of the Attacks on Energy Resources Occupied by Islamic State as a Matter of Jus in Bello
I. Introduction
II. The Occupation and Exploitation of Energy Resources in the Occupied Territories
A. Introductory Remarks
B. The Measures Taken by Islamic State in the Use, Exploitation and Arbitrary Destruction of Local
Resources as an Occupier
i. Legal Review
ii. Responsibility for the Illegal Use, Exploitation and Destruction of Local Resources
III. The Destruction of Energy Resources during Armed Conflict
A. Introductory Remarks
B. The Protection of Natural Resources through the Obligation to Protect the Natural Environment
i. Legal Review
ii. Identification of Environmental Destruction
iii. Environmental Destruction as a War Crime: The Prevention Means of the 1998 Rome Statute
C. The Protection of Natural Resources as State Property
IV. Responsibility for the Environmental Impacts Following the Destruction of Energy Resources during Armed Conflicts
A. Contextual Background
B. The Application of International Criminal Responsibility for Natural Resource Destruction during the War
with Islamic State
V. Concluding Remarks