Thisbook analyzes the origins and organizational structure of Islamic State (IS), examiningits military triumphs and success in securing new recruits via social media. Fromits base in Iraq and Syria, IS has spread globally with 17 regional affiliatesfrom Indonesia to Nigeria and sleeper cells in at least 60 countries, capableof atrocities like the Paris attack. To understand the threat of IS, this book exploresits organizational structure and underlying ideology, and implications forWestern efforts to attack the leadership of IS. The ways IS has grown byswiftly adapting its military strategy, developing creative forms of funding andefforts to win hearts and minds of locals are identified. The author highlightshow the competing individual national interests between the Western militaryalliance and local partners have served to strengthen IS. With its ideologyspreading ever further, this book warns of the looming violent confrontationbetween democratic and Islamist forces. This volume speaks to academics ininternational relations, security studies and strategic studies, policy-makersand interested parties.

Hussein Solomon is Professor in the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State, South Africa and is a Senior Research Associate of the Israeli-based Research on Islam and Muslims in Africa (RIMA). His most recent book was entitled Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Fighting Insurgency from Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

List of Abbreviations.- Chapter One: The Rise of the Islamic State.- Chapter Two: Accounting for Islamic States Appeal and Resilience.- Chapter Three: Responding to Islamic State and Getting it Wrong.- Chapter Four: Fighting Islamic State: A Call to Action.- Chapter Five: Gazing into the Crystal Ball.- Bibliography.- Index.