ISIS Race to Armageddon

by Rasheed, Dr. Adil

• ISBN13: 9789384464776
• ISBN10: 9384464775
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-09-07
• Publisher: Vij Books India

Summary

The sudden emergence of the so-called Islamic State (generally referred to as the ISIS) in territories of Iraq and Syria in 2014, shocked the world with its gruesome acts of extreme violence and brutality, its blow to the Westphalian system of the nation state and its messianic drive to instigate a global war of apocalyptic proportions.

With more wealth and fighters than Al-Qaeda, the ISIS has stolen the thunder from every other Islamist and Jihadist outfit by declaring the territory under its control as the Caliphate (which has always been the ultimate Islamist utopia).

Various international organizations, government agencies and media outlets remain baffled to this day over the genesis, modus operandi, warfare and global outreach behind the ISIS' spectacular success.

This book seeks to investigate and explore most of these questions and also recommends ways in countering the ISIS threat both ideologically and militarily.

Author Biography

Dr Adil Rasheed is a Senior Research Fellow at the United Service Institution of India and a media commentator on West Asian geopolitics. He was earlier Researcher at the Middle East's premier think tank, The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (2006 to 2014). His analytical features appear in leading Middle East newspapers and publications. He was awarded Ph.D. from JMI University, New Delhi, in 1995.

Table of Contents

Preface. Black Flags of Apocalypse!

Chapter One. Introduction: The Genesis of ISIS

1. Rise to Global Infamy

2. Vision and Motto

3. Significance of the ISIS Threat

4. Morphing Identities, Changing Names

5. The Genesis

Chapter Two. Ideology: Quest for the Caliphate

6. Islam and ‘Islamism' in the Modern Age

7. The Failure of Secular Pan-Arabism

8. Ascendance of Wahhabi-Salafi Movements

9. Al-Qaeda and the Justification of Terror

10. Ideological Dissonance Within Al-Qaeda After 9/11

11. ISIS' Ideology

Chapter Three. Organization: Method in Madness

12. Forces and Weaponry

13. Provincial Sub-Divisions (Wilayahs)

14. Leadership Structure

15. Bureaucracy

16. Funding

17. Administration and Governance

Chapter IV. Warfare: Terror for Territory

18. Strategic Divergences with Al-Qaeda

19. Formative Influences on Warfare

20. The Five-Step Action Plan

21. Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW)

22. Maneuver Warfare of the Mongols

23. Terrorism As Military Tactics

24. Human Rights Violations

25. ISIS and the WMDs

26. Weaknesses in Warfare and Recent Reversals

Chapter V. Metastasizing Monstrosity and Global Response

27. ISIS Global: Blood Across the Seas

28. Outreach of the Cyber Caliphate

29. Growing Influence in Arabian Peninsula

30. ‘First Drops of Rain' in Africa

31. US and Europe: ISIS Claims ‘Countdown to Terror'

32. Rising Threat in Eurasia and Central Asia

33. The Spectre in Southeast Asia

34. ISIS in the Indian Subcontinent

35. Operation Inherent Resolve: The US-led Multinational Coalition

36. Assessment of the US-led Campaign of Airstrikes

37. Islamic Scholars Speak Out Against the ISIS

38. Conspiracy Theories and the ‘Yonin Plan'

39. How Should India Respond to the ISIS Threat

Endnotes

About the Author