ISIS: inside the army of terror. By Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan

Abstract

The takeover of large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) came as a surprise, but it should not have done. The growth of Al-Qaeda's replacement was slow, steady and well documented. The group's rise is still a recent phenomenon, making it difficult to assess without falling into the speculation trap. But both ISIS: inside the army of terror and ISIS: the state of terror avoid this by offering readers a detailed but accessible account of the origins, development and methods of this surprisingly brutal group that seems here to stay. ISIS should not have caught anyone off guard. It is a familiar enemy—one that the United States in particular fought for a number of years under different names, according to Hassan Hassan, an analyst at the Delma Institute, and Michael Weiss, a columnist for Foreign Policy. Authors Jessica Stern, a Harvard terrorism lecturer, and J. M. Berger, a non-resident fellow with the Brookings Institution, focus instead on what sets ISIS apart from previous terror groups, including its predecessor Al-Qaeda. Stern and Berger emphasize the group's successful use of the internet and social media to attract a critical mass of followers.