Daesh: A (Non) Islamic State

Over the past three decades, Prof. Vladimir Chukov, a fluent Arabic speaker, has been exploring the Middle East problems including religious radicalism and terrorism. His latest book entitled “DAESH, a (Non)-Islamic state” reflects, first and foremost, the perceptions and the evaluation of a researcher whose country is located in the immediate vicinity of the Syrian and Iraqi territories that have been occupied by the terrorist organization. It has been the author’s objective in this 400 page book based mostly on Arab sources, to outline the main reasons behind the rise of this proto-government formation, as well as to highlight the various factors that have contributed to it. While searching for comprehensive answers to his questions, the author has managed to penetrate deeply into the very composition of the local societies - both into the confessional and the tribal aspect, as well as into the component elements of this quasi-government entity that has been set up by the terrorist organization. The book traces back the development of DAESH in terms of the evolutionary relation between the initial mafia gang, the local powerful militias, and the proto-government formation.