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Letter from the editor 
 
Dear reader, 
 

On behalf of the IJOIS Editorial Board, the Program in Arms Control & Domestic and 
International Security, the University Library, and the supportive academic community of the 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we would like to thank you for reading the sixth 
issue of Illini Journal of International Security (IJOIS)! IJOIS is a peer-reviewed academic 
journal that was founded in September 2015 by undergraduate students at the University of 
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We publish exceptional papers on topics within international 
security or foreign affairs.  

For our sixth issue of the journal, we are excited to publish outstanding undergraduate 
papers that explore some of the most pressing issues within international security and foreign 
affairs, covering a wide range of topic areas and geographical regions. In “Cultural Insensitivities 
and Aggravating Factors in Iraq and Afghanistan” Dylan Hyams explores how a lack of cultural 
training has damaged American relations with local communities in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Christopher Mitchell explores the changing nature of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) 
from its beginnings to 2019 in his paper “ISIS: The Evolution of a Terrorist State”. 

Shifting focus, in “Analyzing the Economic Influences on the Evolution of the Russian 
Military Since 1991” author Philip J. Klafta discusses the development of the Russian military as 
well as the economic and political factors that influenced these changes. Finally, Vincent 
Prayugo covers the efficacy of America’s nuclear stockpile in the modern era in his paper “The 
Nuclear Weapons Program of the United States and its Strategic Value in the Twenty-First 
Century”. 

These exceptional undergraduate papers present novel arguments on a wide array of 
issues within international security and foreign affairs. We hope that these papers will challenge 
and inform our readers, spark discussion, and encourage undergraduate students to explore these 
pressing issues or pursue international studies further. We hope you enjoy reading!  

 
Jakob Domagala 
Editor-in-Chief 


