ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors devote considerable analytical space to our analysis of the self-ascribed mission of the Islamic State (IS), embedded in a crisis of identity and governance. They follow our in-depth discussion of the IS with reflections on the strategic implications of the restoration of the old order following the stunted Arab uprisings. To understand the reason for the IS’s militancy and claim for a new form of government in the form of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, one has to travel back centuries in time. As a consequence, the country of two rivers, which was used as a sanctuary and training area by Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, became a central battleground for the establishment of an Islamic state. The establishment of the caliphate was portrayed by the IS as the solution to modern deviance represented by countless wars against the Muslims and the predominance of non-Islamic systems of governance imposed by foreign powers.
