Vincent Tijms reviewed The Islamist phoenix by Loretta Napoleoni
Review of 'The Islamist phoenix' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A fascinating if repetitive account of Islamic State, in which Napoleoni emphasizes how it should be considered an attempt at nation-building in a world that has otherwise regressed into premodern warfare. She discusses some of the economic and political aspects of that peculiar territorial terrorism that is IS, while pointing out how its use of propaganda and divide et impera eluded the apparatuses of highly developed states.
The analysis is plausible, but not very grounded. The work is light on (useful) citations and doesn't examine any of the dimensions of IS - economical, political, theological or ideological - in depth enough to provide good understanding.
The main thesis though, that globalisation has left a multipolar world in which space has appeared to move from terrorism into nation-building, is interesting enough to justify this read.
