The Islamic State: Anatomy of the New Caliphate, Hanne Olivier, Thomas Flichy de La Neuville

The state of the Muslim world over the past ten years seems disturbing in many respects: radicalization, political chaos, terrorism, massacres of minorities. From Tripoli to Baghdad, via Cairo and Damascus, a vast continuum of Islamic destabilization has unfolded in just a few years, after the enthusiasms of the "Arab Spring." Between Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State has been established since the summer of 2014, a violent entity whose definition and future still defy all hypotheses. But this spontaneous state was not born by chance, and a look back at the history of the Middle East reveals the roots and objectives of this jihadist movement. It responds to a very old aspiration of Sunni Islam, that of the renaissance of the caliphate, which draws on medieval references claimed by the fighters. Even their violence obeys an action program where the Kalashnikov has replaced the saber. With solid financial support, recruiting its soldiers from Europe to central India, the Islamic State perfectly masters military tactics and war communication. Its emergence is reshaping the map of the Middle East and disrupting geopolitical balances as far as the heart of Africa. Authors: Olivier Hanne, agrégé, PhD in history, associate researcher at Aix-Marseille University. Islamologist, specialist in the birth of Islam. Thomas Flichy de La Neuville, agrégé, PhD in law, professor at Saint-Cyr Military Academy. Specialist in the Iranian world.