Opinion: What More Than 150 Members of ISIS Taught Us about Water Security

Apr 17, 2019 | Anne Speckhard and Ardian Shajkovci
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Former ISIS members have described in detail how water plays into terrorism and terrorist strategy. The authors have conducted interviews with more than 150 ISIS defectors, returnees or imprisoned ISIS cadres. ISIS members have told that water security, and perhaps more importantly, water insecurity, has played an important role in why some joined ISIS, and how ISIS (and other terrorist organizations) can successfully manipulate populations to maintain strongholds.