Department of Political Sciences Chair of Global Justice The Islamic State: Analysis of a New and Unprecedented Form of Terrorism SUPERVISOR CANDIDATE Prof. Marcello di Paola Giulio Fabris Student number 626512 CO-SUPERVISOR Prof. Alessandro Orsini ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 ACKNWOLEDGMENTS My long and fascinating course of studies has always been marked by good fortune: throughout all my academic path, I had the honor to meet marvelous teachers, experts and fellow students who made this journey unique. I take this opportunity to briefly express my profound gratitude to them. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Marcello Di Paola for keeping his door always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research. His patience, support and advices have been the pillars of this work. Together with him, I am very grateful to all the outstanding academic, professional and human mentors that I met in Padova, Nairobi, The Hague, Rome, Tel Aviv and New York for their immeasurable contribution to my personal growth. Secondly, I would also like to acknowledge the special contribution of F. I owe you one! My sincere thanks also goes my family: to my parents, to my brother and to my sisters for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. Without you, I would never have been where I am. Last but not the least, I am very much obliged to all my fellow pirates around the world for constantly giving me the good vibes I need to be the person I am. I can never thank you enough. It is not enough to be just lucky. You also need to be lucky enough to realize it. 1 Summary INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1: IS HISTORICAL ROOTS ........................................................................ 10 1.1 INTERNAL AGENTS ............................................................................................. 10 1.1.1 The Sykes-Picot Agreement: lines in the sand that are no more ................ 11 1.1.2 The roots of the Islamic State: Iraq ............................................................. 13 1.1.3 Political relations in the region: hotbed for terrorists ................................. 16 1.1.4 The roots of the Islamic State: Syria............................................................ 17 1.2 EXTERNAL AGENTS ............................................................................................. 20 1.2.1 The happenings of the Iraq War: summary ................................................ 21 1.2.2 The role of agenda setting in triggering the Iraq War ................................ 23 1.2.3 The Iraqi War and the origins of IS ............................................................. 27 CHAPTER 2: IS PECULIAR ASPECTS ........................................................................ 30 2.1 IDEOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 30 2.1.1 Roots: Sunni VS Shiite .................................................................................. 30 2.1.2 Salafism ....................................................................................................... 32 2.1.3 Types of Salafism......................................................................................... 34 2.1.4 Wahabbism ................................................................................................. 36 2.1.5 Salafism of the Islamic State ....................................................................... 39 2.1.6 Iconoclasm .................................................................................................. 45 2.2 GOVERNANCE IN ISLamic STATE’s CONTROLLED AREAS ................................... 48 2.2.1 Previous conditions ..................................................................................... 48 2.2.2 Territorial control process ........................................................................... 50 2.3 FINANCIAL AUTONOMY ..................................................................................... 62 2.3.1 Oil ................................................................................................................ 63 2.3.2 Antiquities ................................................................................................... 64 2.3.3 Kidnappings ................................................................................................. 64 2.3.4 Taxation System .......................................................................................... 65 2.3.5 Donations .................................................................................................... 66 2.4 MILITARY ASPECTS ............................................................................................. 69 2.4.1 Roots of success ......................................................................................... 69 2.4.2 Flexibility ..................................................................................................... 70 2.4.3 Military Strategy and Principles .................................................................. 72 2 2.5 IS EXTERNAL GOVERNANCE ............................................................................... 74 2.5.1 Islamic State’s Provinces ............................................................................. 75 2.5.2 Foreign Fighters .......................................................................................... 80 2.5.3 Lone Wolves ................................................................................................ 83 2.6 INTERNET & SOCIAL MEDIA ............................................................................... 89 2.6.1 Improvement and Development ................................................................. 90 2.6.2 Twitter ......................................................................................................... 93 2.6.3 Precautions.................................................................................................. 96 2.6.4 Cyber Jihad .................................................................................................. 96 CHAPTER 3: .......................................................................................................... 99 THE ISLAMIC STATE AS A NEW FORM OF TERRORISM ........................................... 99 3.1 FOUR WAVES OF TERRORISM ............................................................................ 99 3.1.1 Anarchist Wave ......................................................................................... 100 3.1.2 Anti-Colonial Wave ................................................................................... 101 3.1.3 New Left Wave .......................................................................................... 103 3.1.4 Religious Wave .......................................................................................... 105 3.1.5 Al Qaeda and the Fourth Wave ................................................................. 106 3.2 THE FIFTH WAVE OF TERRORISM AND JIHADIST GROUPS .............................. 110 3.2.1 Fifth Wave ................................................................................................. 110 3.2.2 Fifth Wave, Jihadist Groups and the Islamic State .................................... 112 3.3 ISLAMIC STATE: A NEW FORM OF TERRORISM? .............................................. 115 3.3.1 The Only Legitimate Caliphate .................................................................. 115 3.3.2 Millenarianism .......................................................................................... 117 3.3.3 Relevance as a “glocal” actor ................................................................... 119 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 123 GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................... 128 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 132 Books ...................................................................................................................... 132 Academic Articles ................................................................................................... 135 Newspapers and Magazines .................................................................................. 139 Websites and Blogs ................................................................................................ 144 Images .................................................................................................................... 147 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 148 IDEOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 149 INTERNAL GOVERNANCE ....................................................................................... 153 3 FINANCIAL AUTONOMY ......................................................................................... 154 MILITARY ................................................................................................................ 155 EXTERNAL GOVERNANCE ....................................................................................... 156 INTERNET ..............................................................................................................