ISIL, JAN and the war economy in Syria

The Syrian conflict is now characterised by a well-established war economy, which is linked to the collapse of the state and governance in many parts of the country. The aim of this paper is to examine how these two factors are enabling extremist organisations, Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and Jabhat Al Nusra (JAN), by allowing them to expand, reinforce their power, finance their activities and recruit more people to fight with them. This paper will look at options as to how to protect areas currently not under ISIL/JAN control from falling under such control in the future. The paper looks mainly at the economic appeal that such groups present for civilians and unemployed youth as opposed to other factors such as ideological, religious, military and political. This report does not detail how these organisations are financed. A good review of ISIL’s financing mechanisms and the measures that can be taken to deprive ISIL of these financial resources is available from The Financial Action Task Force (FATF); “Financing of the Terrorist Organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”. As part of this analysis this paper presents options to reinforce and strengthen those areas under a significant threat from future pushes by ISIL and JAN. It aims to highlight lessons from those areas that have been most successful in protecting themselves from the multifarious competing fighting groups. The main focus of this paper is on ISIL, but where relevant JAN will also be discussed.