Review Fawaz Gerges, ISIS, A History, Princeton University Press, 2016

Gerges, Fawaz, ISIS, A History, Princeton University Press, 2016

 

The fall of Mosul to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014 led to a wave of books attempting to explain the rise of the extremist group. ISIS, A History by London School of Economics International Relatives Professor Fawas Gerges is one of the better ones. He looks at four main factors to explain the emergence of ISIS: The fragmentation of the Iraqi state after the 2003 U.S. invasion, how ISIS grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Syrian Civil War and the 2011 Arab Spring. His thesis is that the organization created a revolutionary Salafi-Jihadist movement that played upon themes of Sunni victimization and which was opposed to the Shiite and Alawite dominated governments in Iraq and Syria.

 

The majority of Gerges’ book is spent detailing the events which led to the creation of the Islamic State. First, the United States destroyed the Iraqi state after the 2003 invasion by banning the Baath Party which provided most of the bureaucracy, disbanding the military, and creating a new ethnosectarian political system which neglected nationalism. The new ruling elite failed to develop the country or provide security and persecuted the Sunnis. This provided a fertile ground for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to found Al Qaeda in Iraq which promoted itself as a defender of the Sunnis and called for an all out war against Shiites. Zarqawi’s fanaticism and brutality set the stage for his successors that went on to create the Islamic State. The Syrian Civil War not only allowed ISIS to expand but promote a pan-Sunni vision that defied nation states. Finally the Arab Spring which called for reforms and democracy in the Middle East was crushed by autocratic governments. That only increased the discontent amongst the young which ISIS exploited. It argued peaceful protests had failed so only violence could bring about any change. Gerges provides good detail on each event and builds up his argument step by step.

 

An interesting point that Gerges makes is that ISIS was mostly made up of poor and rural followers as opposed to previous jihadists who were rich to middle class and urban. The author believes that the group’s lower class background made it more susceptible to violence and less interested in theory and theology which had been a major issue for the older Salafis. ISIS was more about action than philosophizing.

 

This brings up another point of how ISIS caused a rift within the jihadist movement. The author believes the group challenged the old guard such as Al Qaeda. Bin Laden for instance was in hiding and on the run after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He made an alliance with Zarqawi even though they disagreed about attacking Shiites and trying to establish an Islamic State because Al Qaeda had to be involved in the biggest fight in the Islamic world which was then Iraq. Not only that but Zarqawi was able to siphon off most of the funding and recruits away from bin Laden. Jihadist philosophers also felt challenged by ISIS claiming they were theologically ignorant of Islam and newcomers who made the jihadist movement look bad with its excessive violence against other Muslims. ISIS replied that the thinkers had never fired a shot in defense of Islam and were armchair militants. In this dispute ISIS won since it seized a huge amount of territory and declared an Islamic State while its rivals were largely relegated to the Internet.

 

There are some minor issues with the book. First, it flips back and forth about the relationship between Al Qaeda in Iraq and ISIS. Sometimes it portrays them as different groups when they weren’t. For instance at one time Gerges writes that they were two sides of the same coin. Other times he says they were one. The chapters in ISIS are also themed such as one on the Arab Spring and another on the Syrian War. That leads to a lot of repetition. He might have been better served by just going in chronological order. There are also sections which are more about the wider jihadist movement and not so much about ISIS. For instance, the author spends a lot of time about how Al Qaeda and Syria’s Al-Nusra Front reacted to the Arab Spring.

 

After 2014 a minor industry developed with books about the Islamic State. Not all of them were of the same quality. Gerges’ ISIS, A History is one of the better ones. It tries to give a comprehensive view of the organization from its causes to its world view to its leaders and relationship with the wider jihadist movement. It’s also accessible to the average reader making it a good starting point for anyone interested in the history of ISIS.

 

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