In the column, "What ISIS Could Teach the West", Nicholas Kristof writes to fellow Americans about how President Obama and the military can learn from the Islamic extremists strategies. He describes their strategies similar to brainwashing to reach a common goal. The victims of this brainwashing are women. The extremists realize that illiteracy and oppression of women will allow Islamic extremism to flourish. If women become ignorant and illiterate, it will eliminate the threat of a girl with a pen. The author's syntax is well composed as he mixes women's rights and global affairs into a excellently written article. The tone does shift, however, from helpless to persuasive. Kristof writes about the women who have been shot, kidnapped, or executed for campaigning for education and how America is simply responding with airstrikes. The author attempts to persuade Americans to do more by asking, "Shouldn't we use less weapons, and instead build stable societies less vulnerable to extremist manipulation?" The author values the airstrikes in the short term, but informs readers that weapons will not end extremism. Kristof appealed to pathos when he called girls risking their lives to get their education brave, and he expressed emotional attachment as he listed off how the Islamic state has induced fear into women there. Kristof is eloquent and uses high, formal diction that proves his argument while incorporating words such as indoctrination and panacea. kristof appealed to logos, pathos, and included formal diction into his article to establish that Americans will not win the war with Islamic extremists unless we adjust our strategies and recognize theirs.