Erich Mielke's Last Gift: The Legacy of the Stasi in the Middle East, From the GDR to the Islamic State

Abstract

This thesis examines to what extent the way the Islamic State operates can be traced back to the intelligence relationship between the Stasi and the Ba’ath party in Iraq during the 1970s and 1980s. As an explorative research, it aims to map potential continuities between the Stasi and the Islamic State with regard to both the organizational structure of the Islamic State’s intelligence apparatus, as well as its operational techniques. In the first chapter, the ideological role of the Stasi within the GDR is examined. In the second chapter, materials from the Stasi archives are analysed to determine the extent of the intelligence relationship between the Stasi and the Ba’ath, and to see how this relationship has influenced the intelligence apparatus of the Ba’ath. In the third chapter, the intelligence apparatus of the Islamic State and its link with the Ba’ath are explored. In order to trace such continuities, a framework of different degrees of influence has been developed, which ranges from level 1 (low) to level 4 (high). There are several similarities, in organizational structure, as well as in the extent of surveillance of citizens, and the heavy use of informants, that indicate that the intelligence apparatus of the Islamic State has been indirectly influenced by the Stasi support to the Iraqi Ba’ath party.