"ISIS isn't a country, contrary to what they'd like to think." DO #148
a) I'm inclined to agree.
BUT !!
b) It depends upon how we define that.
The U.N. might agree with you and me.
BUT !!
- They've got a criminal justice system.
- They've got a military.
- They've got garbage collection.
- They've got an impressive, very sophisticated recruitment presence on the Internet.
So we're smack up against Sorites Paradox here.
How many hairs must a man be missing to be considered bald?
If 5,000 hairs is a full head of hair, is a dude with 4,999 hairs on his head bald?
How about 4,998?
Or 4,997?
How many hairs must a man be missing to be bald?
What are the criteria of being a State?
ISIL has declared itself a State.
It's a more persuasive claim than if you made it.
Again, I agree with you.
BUT our amateur opinion isn't necessarily binding on them.
state (stât) noun
Abbr. st.
1.A condition or mode of being, as with regard to circumstances: a state of confusion.
2.A condition of being in a stage or form, as of structure, growth, or development: the fetal state.
3.A mental or emotional condition: in a manic state.
4.Informal. A condition of excitement or distress.
5.Physics. The condition of a physical system with regard to phase, form, composition, or structure: Ice is the solid state of water.
6.Social position or rank.
7.Ceremony; pomp: foreign leaders dining in state at the White House.
8.a. The supreme public power within a sovereign political entity. b. The sphere of supreme civil power within a given polity: matters of state.
9.A specific mode of government: the socialist state.
10.A body politic, especially one constituting a nation: the states of Eastern Europe.
11.One of the more or less internally autonomous territorial and political units composing a federation under a sovereign government: the 48 contiguous states of the Union.
adjective
1.Of or relating to a body politic or to an internally autonomous territorial or political unit constituting a federation under one government: a monarch dealing with state matters; the department that handles state security.
2.Owned and operated by a state: state universities.
verb, transitive
stated, stating, states
To set forth in words; declare.
[Middle English, from Old French estat, from Latin status.]
Synonyms: state, condition, situation, status. These nouns denote the mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing. State and condition, the most general, are largely interchangeable: a state (or condition) of disrepair; a healthy state (or condition). "Every body continues in its state of rest . . . unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it" (Isaac Newton). "The condition of man . . . is a condition of war of everyone against everyone" (Thomas Hobbes). Situation more narrowly refers to a state or condition at a particular time as determined by a combination of circumstances: "Eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation" (Franklin D. Roosevelt). Status usually applies to a person or thing considered in relation to others of the same class. With reference to persons it implies relative standing; with respect to things it is roughly equivalent to state or situation: "Mr. Polly's status was that of a guest pure and simple" (H.G. Wells). What is the current status of the arms-reduction negotiations?
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.
