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As the threat of ISIS terror attacks grows increasingly common and blustery politicians call for swift action from the stump, exercising military might against the so-called “Islamic State” seems like a seductive option.
But military action alone, argues David Alpher, adjunct professor at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, will fail to produce lasting results in the fight against global terrorism.
“If ‘defeat ISIS’ isn’t couched within a clear, realistic plan to do the human, political, diplomatic and development work necessary to fix the problems that gave it rise, the mission will fail,” Alpher writes.
Defeating terrorism groups takes more than big guns and loud bombs—in fact, the RAND Corporation contends that outside military intervention is one of the least-effective ways to neutralize terror threats. Instead, Alpher writes, American leaders “need to be realistic and unafraid to say: ‘Our strategy is to build peace.’”
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