The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State. William McCants. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015. pp 256.
Apocalyptic anticipation thriving in a sectarian bloodbath is the focus of this text, which was released alongside a biography of the group’s leader available from Brookings. Despite the claims of a recent anonymous author, there is nothing “bewildering” or “alien” about the Islamic State. On the contrary, ISIS is a terrorist group built up by an insurgency, which melded with other networks, and thrives on the ambivalence of the international community. William McCants’ contribution to the study of this group is to add a theological perspective that helps to explain the group’s ability to recruit and control people. (For a related perspective focused on insurgent strategies, see this report from Valens Global.)
McCants’ explanation focuses on apocalyptic myths mixing with authoritarian apparatchiks. Understanding these relationships completely, the author notes, is not possible. Analysis, at least in the press, seems to have been paralyzed by those apparent contradictions and the inevitable entropy that they seem to imply. In the conclusion, McCants shoves aside these often asked questions and argues that it is more important to assess the biases the group holds and the desires that they strive to fulfill. McCants discusses other revolutionary and apocalyptic movements in the history of Islam, and notes that these groups envisioned remaining in existence for some time. The Islamic State seems to be operating in the same way. Despite the group’s seizure of the plains of Armageddon, which appeals to the jihadi grunts, this group is building something more permanent though at the same time terrifying.
Read the Remainder at The Bridge
