Jihad and Death The Global Appeal of Islamic State

How has Islamic State been able to muster support far beyond its initial constituency in the Arab world and attract tens of thousands of foreign volunteers, including converts to Islam, and seemingly countless supporters online? In this compelling intervention into the debate about Islamic State's origins and future prospects, the renowned French political scientist, Olivier Roy, argues that while terrorism and jihadism are familiar phenomena, the group's deliberate pursuit of death has produced a new kind of radical violence. In other words, we're facing not a radicalization of Islam, but the Islamization of radicalism.

Indeed, Roy argues, young European Muslims drawn to IS are attracted to the organization's violent means rather than utopian dreams of a caliphate. He places IS in the context of other radical millenialist groups such as China's Red Guards, Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, and Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. In doing so, he shows that violence, not religious fundamentalism, is the central thread connecting young people who are drawn to radical groups.

Jihad and Death is a concise dissection of the highly sophisticated narrative mobilized by IS: the myth of the caliphate recast into a modern story of heroism and nihilism.

Olivier Roy is Professor of Political Science and Mediterranean studies at the European University Institute in Florence. He is the author of many books, including Globalized Islam and Holy Ignorance.

1. Jihadism and Terrorism: The Pursuit of Death
The New Forms of Terrorism and Jihadism
When Jihadism Replaces Jihad
Terrorism as Excommunication and Suicide
The New Radicals

2. Who Are the Radicals?
The Terrorists' Profile
Friends, Brothers, and Wives
Youth Culture, Delinquency, and Rebellion
Born Again or Convert
The Lack of "Objective" Causes
The Connection with Middle East Conflicts

3. The Jihadi Imaginary: The Islamization of Radicalism
What Role Does Islam Play in Radicalization?
The Avenging Hero of the Suffering Muslim Community
The Religion of Radicals: The Salafism Issue
Youth Violence: Rebels in Search of a Cause

4. From the Shadow of Bin Laden to the Sun of ISIS
The Myth of the "Third Generation" of Terrorists and the New Global Jihad
The Irruption of ISIS in the Middle East
Islamized Spaces, Tribal Spaces
The Specific Logic of Middle East Geostrategy

Conclusion: Waiting for Al-Godot

Notes

Bibliography

Index