Book Review: Fawaz A Gerges, ISIS: A History
| Author | Fatemeh Shayan |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917720413 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsOther Areas |
686 Political Studies Review 15(4)
ISIS: A History by Fawaz A Gerges. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016. 368pp.,
£19.95 (h/b), ISBN 9780691170008
The aim of Fawaz Gerges’ book is to analyse
the rise and power of ISIS. The book contrib-
utes to study of the Salafi and Jihadi move-
ments by locating ISIS in this context. Gerges
examines the political factors that threatened
not only in Iraq but also in Syria and the wider
Middle East. The book is divided into 10 chap-
ters including an introduction and a conclusion.
The first chapter, ‘The world according to
ISIS’, argues that ISIS is first and foremost an
extension of the global Salafi-Jihadi move-
ment. To begin with, ISIS has successfully
tapped into a fierce clash of identities between
Shia and Sunni Muslims in the Middle East
and beyond. The second chapter, ‘Where ISIS
came from: Zarqawi to Baghdadi’, explores the
evidence that the 2003 Iraq War led to political
failures in Iraq and opened a window for
Al-Qaeda in Iraq under the leadership of
Al-Zarqawi. Under the leadership of Abu-Bakr
Al-Baghdadi, ISIS reconstituted Al-Qaeda
from its origins and extended far beyond it.
The third chapter, ‘How the broken Iraqi
politics fuelled the revival of ISIS’, studies the
2003 Iraq War, which caused a deep sectarian
divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims and led
to the rise of ISIS from being a non-state actor to
an Islamic state. The fourth chapter, ‘Baghdadi
evolution: from invisible to infamous’, analyses
how Al-Baghdadi went from being a shy student
to a self-ordained caliph. The fifth chapter,
‘Baathists and ISIS Jihadists’, examines the link
between ISIS and the former officers of the
Ba’athist regime who control ISIS from behind
the scenes and are the real power brokers. The
sixth chapter, ‘How the Syrian War empowered
ISIS’, traces how ISIS was able to take advan-
tage of the feelings of desperation that spread
around the country following the Assad regime’s
response to peaceful demonstrations.
The seventh chapter, ‘Misappropriating the
Arab Spring uprisings’, specifies the breakdown
of some state institutions in the Middle East and
the development of ISIS. The eighth chapter,
‘ISIS versus Al-Qaeda’, examines how ISIS and
Al-Qaeda both come from the same family.
Here, although Gerges provides clear and com-
pelling analyses of the underlying causes that
fuelled ISIS, he fails to cover what actions states
such as Iran have implemented to combat ISIS.
The book would be of interest for policy-
makers, academics, and undergraduate and
postgraduate students of the Middle East and
terrorism.
Fatemeh Shayan
(University of Isfahan; University of Tampere)
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917720413
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