Research Catalog

Title

The Islamist phoenix : Islamic State and the redrawing of the Middle East / Loretta Napoleoni.

Author

Napoleoni, Loretta

Publication

New York, NY : Seven Stories Press, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxii, 136 pages; 19 cm

Summary

From its birth in the late 1990s as the jihadist dream of terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the Islamic State (known by a variety of names, including ISIS, ISIL, and al Qaeda in Iraq) has grown into a massive enterprise, redrawing national borders across the Middle East and subjecting an area larger than the United Kingdom to its own vicious brand of Sharia law. In The Islamist Phoenix, world-renowned terrorism expert Loretta Napoleoni takes us beyond the headlines, demonstrating that while Western media portrays the Islamic State as little more than a gang of thugs on a winning streak, the organization is proposing a new model for nation building. Waging a traditional war of conquest to carve out the 21st-century version of the original Caliphate, IS uses modern technology to recruit and fundraise while engaging the local population in the day-to-day running of the new state. Rising from the ashes of failing jihadist enterprises, the Islamic State has shown a deep understanding of Middle Eastern politics, fully exploiting proxy war and shell-state tactics. This is not another terrorist network but a formidable enemy in tune with the new modernity of the current world disorder. As Napoleoni writes, "Ignoring these facts is more than misleading and superficial, it is dangerous. Know your enemy' remains the most important adage in the fight against terrorism."

Subject

• IS (Organization)
• Islamic fundamentalism > 21st century
• Middle East > History > 21st century
• POLITICAL SCIENCE > International Security
• POLITICAL SCIENCE > Regional Planning
• POLITICAL SCIENCE > Terrorism
• Terrorism > Middle East

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Prologue: A new breed of terrorism? -- From al Zarqawi to al Baghdadi -- Rehearsals for the Caliphate -- The paradox of the New Rome -- The Islamist phoenix -- The modern jihad -- Radical Salafism -- The new Mongols -- Contemporary pre-modern wars -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 9781609806286
• 160980628X

LCCN

^^2014038288

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library