The Islamic State of 2020 finds itself in a largely unprecedented situation with new leaders, its organization adapting to the battle rhythms of a grinding insurgency, and the need to manage a transnational enterprise present in over twenty countries.
All of this in the aftermath of its so-called caliph being killed and its territorial political project collapsing. Given these dynamics, it is also imperative that scholars and practitioners re-evaluate their understanding of the Islamic State movement and its counterstrategy implications. Craig Whiteside and Haroro J. Ingram, co-authors of The ISIS Reader (Hurst UK, Oxford University Press USA) with Charlie Winter, draw on some of the key lessons from the Islamic State’s multidecade history, recent attack data, and a suite of primary source materials to offer their assessment of the Islamic State as a global insurgency.
Drawing on this assessment and their experiences supporting efforts to confront the group across the Middle East and Asia, they present a broad strategic framework designed to contain the movement and suffocate it from opportunities that may arise from great power competition rivalries.
Speaker bios:
Haroro J. Ingram is a Senior Research Fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. A co-author of The ISIS Reader, his research primarily focuses on the role of propaganda and charismatic leadership in violent non-state political movements. Haroro's work draws heavily on primary source materials collected during field research in countries across the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. He is a Senior Investigator with the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE), an associate fellow with the International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), and a member of the Resolve Network’s Research Advisory Council.
Dr. Craig Whiteside is an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College as part of the resident program, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is a senior associate with NWC’s Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups, an associate fellow with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, and a fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. He is a co-author of The ISIS Reader (2020). He holds a doctorate in political science from Washington State University and is a former U.S. Army officer.