''We can't just hope killing all the people in Isis will solve the problem - it won't,'' Prof Robert Patman said yesterday.
''The conditions generating Isis ... simply act as recruiting agents for more people to join.''
Prof Patman agreed with the long-expected decision yesterday to send troops to Iraq, as a military response was essential.
But much more was needed to combat the lure of a radical militant group that fed on a sense of injustice.
''That all sounds very vague but it's very necessary. They have to lose their pulling power within the Islamic world.''
It meant attacking the fundamentalist ideas of Isis, which had been successful at presenting its extreme view of the world.
Grievances included human rights abuses, such as at Abu Ghraib prison during the Iraq War, and the Palestine-Israel conflict.
''It's high time the Palestinians had their own state.''
New Zealand should use its seat at the ''top table'' to push for a Security Council resolution to underpin the military coalition, which would give the mission credibility.
Unlike in the Syrian civil war, there was consensus on the Security Council that Isis had to be confronted.
And it should push the council to address long-neglected problems in the region, such as Palestine.
''One of the challenges is trying to make sure that those who are not getting a fair opportunity in the world see an improved life.''
Isis, the ''genocidal medieval group of fundamentalists'', was the ''antithesis'' of what New Zealand stood for.
The group posed a ''fundamental threat'' to the world - not just Western countries, but also ''the moderate majority'' in the Muslim world.
He said it was often overlooked that Muslims had suffered the worst of the violence meted out by Isis thus far.
Opinion on the Otago Daily Times Facebook page was mixed after yesterday's deployment announcement.
It was divided between those who thought New Zealand should steer clear of the conflict, and those who believed military deployment was an appropriate response.
