From the inside cover:
What drives Islamic State
The world has looked on in horror at the atrocities perpetrated by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq. The organization’s name has become a byword for bloodshed, torture, rape, and criminality. Yet Western observers struggle to make sense of the savagery of these jihadists towards their opponents in enforcing their rule.
In this timely new publication, Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo analyses Islamic State’s role in the conflict across the Middle East, explaining its ideology, organisation structure and its global radicalization strategy. He scrutinizes key passages in IS publications and in Islamic texts, explaining how these motivate the jihadist forces, and offers an illuminating and important perspective on the nature and quality of life under IS rule. Dr. Sookhdeo sheds light on the process by which young Muslims in Western countries have become radicalized into enlisting as IS fighters encouraged to commit terrorist acts in their own countries.
Dr. Sookhdeo is one of the best-placed experts to predict the future of Islamic State. He makes a compelling case for the encouragement of reform movements that can delegitimize the religious validity of extremism within the worldwide Muslim community.