ISIS: State of Terror

In 2014, ISIS shocked the world with their brutality and the speed with which they took a large swath of Iraqi and Syrian territory. One year later, most countries, including the United States, are still trying to figure out what is driving this group and how best they can be defeated.

J.M. Berger, an investigative journalist and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, brings a uniquely qualified perspective to the analysis of the challenges posed by ISIS’s rise. In ISIS: State of Terror, Berger and Jessica Stern, a lecturer on terrorism at Harvard University, draw upon intelligence sources, law enforcement officials, and their own groundbreaking research to explain the genesis, evolution, and implications of the Islamic State—and how we can fight it. The authors analyze the tools ISIS fighters use both to frighten innocent citizens and lure new soldiers—including the “ghoulish pornography” of their pro-jihadi videos, the seductive appeal of “jihadic chic,” and its startlingly effective social media expertise.

Berger brings a long history of experience researching and reporting on jihadist extremists to his analysis of ISIS. He is the author of Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam and of a newly released census of pro-ISIS Twitter activity. Berger is also the founder of Intelwire.com, a web site publishing investigative journalism, analysis, and primary source documents on terrorism and international security.

New America is pleased to welcome Mr. Berger and other experts for a discussion of ISIS and the policy responses to its rise.

Join the conversation online using #StateofTerror and following @NatSecNAF.

Copies of Berger’s book will be available for purchase by cash, check, or credit card.

Participants:

J.M. Berger
Non-Resident Fellow, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, Brookings Institution
Co-Author, ISIS: The State of Terror

Douglas Ollivant
ASU Future of War Senior Fellow, New America
Managing Partner and Senior Vice President for Strategy, Mantid International

Tara Maller
Research Fellow, International Security Program, New America
Associate Director for Strategic Communications, Franklin Project, the Aspen Institute 

Moderator:

Peter Bergen
Director, International Security Program, New America