As the debate continues on how President Obama and the United States should handle the Islamic State, the Washington Post polled a group of political scientists on the effectiveness of airstrikes on IS (commonly referred to as ISIS or ISIL).
The poll, called Poll of Political Scientists (POPS), draws on peer reviewers from academic journal International Interactions to identify experts to answer particular questions on subjects they might ordinarily review papers on. Post columnist Nathan Jensen reported:
The poll asked a total of 50 academics, all experts in this area, three questions about U.S. policy towards ISIS. I received 30 responses. Here are the results (see also charts made by Michael Colaresi here).
Respondents were first asked whether they agreed or disagreed with this statement: "The current airstrikes on ISIS will roll back their advances in the region." 15 respondents (50 percent) agreed, 6 (20 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed, and 9 (30 percent) disagreed.
Respondents were then presented this statement: "I support the President’s decision to strike ISIS." This question had greater support and more variance than the previous questions. 3 (10 percent) respondents strongly agreed, 17 (57 percent) agreed, 3 (10 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed, 6 (20 percent) disagreed, and 1 (3 percent) strongly disagreed.
Finally, respondents were presented this statement: "If the airstrikes against ISIS continue beyond two years at their current intensity, the majority of the public will not support continued airstrikes against ISIS." 2 (7 percent) strongly agreed, 13 (43 percent) agreed, 5 (17 percent) neither agreed nor disagreed, 8 (27 percent) disagreed, and 2 (7 percent) strongly disagreed.
Participants in POPS were also given the option to provide further information on their opinions. The Post reported that many respondents said the airstrikes against IS are not sufficient to roll back the group, even though they can slow or stop advances. Several pollsters also said that additional military force--included ground troops--would be needed to defeat IS.