Having read The Atlantic Article, “What ISIS Really Wants,” the class was tasked with splitting up into groups with the goal of putting the solution set out by the article in context of the models that we learned about in class.

My group began with applying the situation presented in the article to the Hirschleifer Model. ISIL has different preferences and well as different perceptions when compared with all of the countries of the Levant, which ISIL lays claims to. Given this fact, conflict between ISIL and the Levant is imminent, as ISIL is not willing to compromise on the territory they believe belongs to them; it is a guarantee that ISIL would fight in any game simulation. Our group, therefore, constructed a 1×3 game in which ISIL’s only choice is to fight.

Having crafted the model, the best solution was determined to be a policy of ‘containment,’ in which ISIL is kept at bay by bombing. This option was decided by the article to better than fighting with boots on the ground because it would be much more cost effective, and would not risk the lives of coalition troops. In addition to this fact, ISIL is constrained by time, and loses legitimacy as time goes on due to their strict belief that the Caliph needs to continue to conquer territory as according to prophecy.