Oil for Terrorism: Examining the Effectiveness of Western Intervention in ISIS’s Oil Smuggling

ISIS is, to date, the richest jihadi terrorist organization. It has several forms of revenue; however, smuggling and exporting oil from conquered facilities in Syria and Iraq is by far the most profitable, potentially bringing in millions of dollars a day. Due to the nature of terrorist organizations, ISIS does not have many expenses, giving it the ability to greatly increase its assets on an annual basis. For centuries, money has been shown to lead both power and influence. By gathering both primary and secondary research data from foreign and domestic sources, this project investigates whether ending ISIS’s oil smuggling would decrease ISIS’s strength, power, and influence as a terrorist organization.