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ISIS: A History, by Fawaz A. Gerges
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The Islamic State has stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. What explains the rise of ISIS and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world's leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions as he provides a unique history of the rise and growth of ISIS. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling account of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS.
The book describes how ISIS emerged in the chaos of Iraq following the 2003 U.S. invasion, how the group was strengthened by the suppression of the Arab Spring and by the war in Syria, and how ISIS seized leadership of the jihadist movement from Al Qaeda. Part of a militant Sunni revival, ISIS claims its goals are to resurrect a caliphate and rid "Islamic lands" of all Shia and other minorities. In contrast to Al Qaeda, ISIS initially focused on the "near enemy"--Shia, the Iraqi and Syrian regimes, and secular, pro-Western states in the Middle East. But in a tactical shift ISIS has now taken responsibility for spectacular attacks in Europe and other places beyond the Middle East, making it clear that the group is increasingly interested in targeting the "far enemy" as well. Ultimately, the book shows how decades of dictatorship, poverty, and rising sectarianism in the Middle East, exacerbated by foreign intervention, led to the rise of ISIS--and why addressing those problems is the only way to ensure its end.
An authoritative introduction to arguably the most important conflict in the world today, this is an essential book for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the social turmoil and political violence ravaging the Arab-Islamic world.
- Sales Rank: #18766 in Books
- Published on: 2016-03-22
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.60" h x 1.40" w x 5.80" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 384 pages
Review
A CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS Book of the Week, August 7, 2016
"Well-researched and lucidly argued."--Malise Ruthven, New York Review of Books
"A specific, timely, well-rendered exegesis of the unfolding global threat."--Kirkus (starred review)
"This timely history gives a clear-sighted account of the ascent of the so-called Islamic State (IS)--one with far-reaching implications. The book's findings and conclusions have profound relevance not just for the future of IS in Iraq and Syria, but also for salafi jihadism, regional security in the Middle East and North Africa and international peace and security. . . . Written and edited with pellucid clarity, ISIS: A History is an important book that will have broad appeal beyond academic, diplomatic and policymaking circles."--Chris Harmer, LSE Review of Books
"[Written] with energy and clarity, and out of uncommonly extensive knowledge."--Robert Fulford, National Post
"Impressively detailed. . . . His argument is all at once persuasive, deeply depressing, yet hopeful. For all the years of sclerosis in the Middle East, political systems can be rejuvenated. The revolutions of the Arab Spring marked an attempt to do just that, and while hope has been hijacked by extremists, the opportunity to try again and again can never be taken away."--Daniel Flitton, Sydney Morning Herald
"Perhaps the most informative, clearly expressed, sober book on the subject."--William Armstrong, Hurriyet Daily News
"[Gerges's] book is one of the most coherent, comprehensive and persuasive histories of ISIS to date and deserves to be widely read."--Richard Cockett, Literary Review
"[The book's] strength stems from the sheer breadth of the survey offered by Gerges."--Shiraz Maher, New Statesman
"Gerges is clear, and it is here that the book excels, that Isis cannot be explained in isolation but must be examined in the larger sociopolitical context in which it emerged. . . . ISIS: A History makes a welcome contribution to the debate, and will be of interest to both general readers and specialists."--Christina Hellmich, Times Higher Education
"This is quite simply the definitive book on the group by a very smart, well-informed guide to the region, superbly researched, well-written and intelligent throughout. Everyone opining about ISIS should be required to read this book first."--Fareed Zakaria
"The achievement of Fawaz Gerges . . . in his compelling, insightful book is to highlight the social and sectarian pressures that led so many Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis to turn to Isis as protectors."--Michael Burleigh, The Times
"Terrific."--Michael Brull, New Matilda
From the Back Cover
"Not just timely but unlikely ever to be bettered, this is an indispensable guide to the evolution of the Arab world's leading terrorist organization by a global expert. Fawaz Gerges's book is judicious, well argued, and based on a close personal acquaintance with conditions in Iraq and Syria. It is unrivaled in its ability to unravel the ideological and political power struggles among ISIS leaders. And it is an often shocking indictment of Western missteps in dealing with the organization's growing capacity to harm foreign interests."--Roger Owen, author of The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life
"Fawaz Gerges, long one of the most perceptive writers about the Middle East, has written a lucid and erudite account of the rise of ISIS that will be read with great profit by both specialists and the general public."--Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad, Manhunt, and The Longest War
"In the flood of recent publications about ISIS, Gerges provides a welcome island of thoroughly researched analysis by a major authority on extremist Muslim movements. Both general readers and specialists will benefit from Gerges's balanced and well-informed understanding of this important and dangerous movement."--John Voll, professor emeritus, Georgetown University
"In this original and empirically rich study, Fawaz Gerges persuasively analyzes the rise and power of ISIS. Building on his profound knowledge of salafi and jihadi movements, he locates ISIS squarely in its context, dissecting the ideas and political factors that have made it so surprisingly formidable in Iraq and Syria, as well as disturbingly influential elsewhere."--Charles Tripp, SOAS, University of London
"Fawaz Gerges is the right scholar to bring the history of ISIS past its journalistic first draft. This should be a valuable source for policymakers, specialists, and the public alike."--Noah Feldman, Harvard Law School
"Fawaz Gerges is a first-class expert on contemporary Jihadist movements. This book should have a wide readership."--Ian Lustick, University of Pennsylvania
About the Author
Fawaz A. Gerges is professor of international relations and Emirates Professor in Contemporary Middle East Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His many books include The New Middle East, Obama and the Middle East, and The Far Enemy. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, and other publications.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
An important book for our time
By DAB
I am a lay reader who is interested in current events in the middle east, particularly the growth of ISIS, and happened to catch an interview with Fawaz Gerges on Book TV. I ordered his book immediately and have not been disappointed. The book is comprehensive and detailed, but if you have followed the general events in Iraq and Syria since 2003, the book is very readable.There have been one or two passages that are confusing or difficult to read and I am not sure if that is due to my lack of familiarity with the characters Gerges discusses or the way they are described. But on the whole, this is an authoritative and very readable book. It adds a great deal of insight not only to the history of ISIS, but also the shifting allegiances of the many factions in the region and the very negative influence of foreign intervention. While the seeds of what is today ISIS existed prior to the US invasion in 2003, that event allowed them to fully sprout and enjoy a growth spurt. It immediately calls into question any simplistic description of causes and solutions regarding the situation in the middle east.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By History Reader
Written by an insider, the book dispels myths and misconceptions about global jihadism and examines the conditions that enabled IS to seize vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and proclaim a ‘caliphate’ in June 2014. Fawaz A. Gerges delivers a robust rebuttal of recent ahistorical accounts that variously portray IS as the invincible and unassailable leader of a monolithic jihadism; a linear progression of Al Qaeda (AQ); or as a product of the Arab Spring. ISIS: A History contests all of these narratives.
The book shows how, by 2010, the group founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq was on the brink of implosion. Its targeting of civilians, suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings had met with increasing Sunni resistance, most notably from the sahwa – or awakening councils – which were at war with al-Zarqawi’s brand of genocidal sectarianism.
While the Syrian conflict might have began as an uprising against an unfair and corrupt autocrat, just as Libyans, Egyptians, Tunisians, Yemenis, and Bahrainis did in 2010 and 2011, it is true that soon became a giant three-way proxy war going on between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. Those countries are paying the bills of the proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia/Qatar, Turkey and Iran in any number of countries across the region.
But the linking of salafi jihadism with the Arab Spring is given short shrift in this history, not least because parliaments and participation in electoral politics are considered blasphemous by IS, which seeks a return to hakimiyya – God’s sovereignty and laws and the rules of seventh-century Arabia.
The evidence that Gerges pieces together presents a picture of a movement that perhaps owes little to the charisma of its leaders, but a great deal to the US-led invasion of Iraq and the post-war dismantling of state structures. A point made with emphatic clarity throughout the book is that: ‘[t]he destruction of the Iraqi state in 2003 was the most important variable in the emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq and its subsequent rebirth as ISIS’.
The book narrates how, during the disastrous post-war era, the process of de-Baathification and the establishment of a sectarian-based political system polarised Iraq along Sunni-Shia lines. This sectarian rift deepened and widened under the premiership of Nouri al-Maliki. Increasingly, authoritarian rule that centralised power in the hands of Shia Islamists further fuelled the sectarianism on which IS feeds.
Critically important for the ascent of IS was the exclusion of the sahwa under al-Maliki’s leadership, which led senior Baathists to defect to AQ and IS in Iraq, providing the military prowess that enabled its fighters to sweep into the country’s Sunni heartland. The second driving force behind the ascent of IS was, of course, Syria’s descent into war – the book further narrates how this empowered IS, principally through the formation of alliances of convenience with Sunnis in revolt against the regime of Bashar al Assad.
Another dominant theme that emerges in ISIS: A History is the extent to which IS has been riven with internal dissent and beset by external opposition. In chronicling the bloody struggle for leadership of the jihadist movement, Gerges documents how this is fiercely contested by AQ in Syria and by other salafi-jihadist groups. The seizure of territory and resources in Iraq and Syria cannot be ascribed to one united monolithic jihadist movement. While IS has proved adept in the formation of alliances of convenience to achieve its war aims, these have been, and will continue to prove, temporal and divisive. The defining characteristic of IS in this history is its mastery of the art of making enemies and strategic miscalculations, which have left the movement over-extended, waging war in multiple battles on multiple fronts.
The conclusions reached in this analysis are unequivocal – the writing is already on the wall and the movement cannot live up to its motto of remaining and expanding: ‘[t]o think the unthinkable, a collapse of the “Islamic State” might not be imminent but it is conceivable in the near future’. Although many caveats and qualifications may delay the penning of IS’s obituary any time soon, these do not detract from the author’s principal conclusions that IS is a doomed, structurally defective movement, lacking any manifesto for governance and bereft of ideas or policies. This analysis should not invite complacence about the menace of IS. The book has already proved prophetic in its assessment that as the movement loses territory, it will make spectacular strikes elsewhere. The attacks in Brussels took place shortly after the book went to press.
With little to offer Sunni communities in the future other than genocidal war, the worst of the distant past and the destruction of fourteen centuries of progress and enlightenment, the movement cannot sustain its hadanah sha’biyya (social base) or establish the broader constituency it will need to survive. Its military prowess and spectacular attacks in the region and the west may prove attractive to young fighters, but it is essentially a hyper-sectarian youth movement bereft of sustainable support. Professor Gerges asserts that no prominent Muslim scholar supports the ‘caliphate’ or its self-anointed caliph – indicted even by radical Islamist scholars as a ‘theocratically illiterate mediocrity’ with ‘no leadership skills’.
If this reading of recent history is correct, then the implications and magnitude of the challenges are clear: remove the conditions through which IS thrives – despair, sectarianism, abject poverty and war – and the group will atrophy and wither. If IS is a manifestation of the breakdown of state institutions, then fragile sectarian and authoritarian state systems must be rebuilt on more legitimate foundations, which will require inclusive and representative government that can meet the needs of their citizens. If IS is above all a youth movement that appeals to the alienated and poor, then the needs of the region’s massively growing youth, currently beset by poverty and unemployment, must be given an alternative other than political authoritarianism, economic and developmental failure and poor governance.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Good context
By Jason D. Sands
There are many good books on ISIS, or whatever you call them, but this is the only that I've read so far that deals with the phenomenon from a broad geopolitical perspective.
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