Religion and Politics

What ISIS Really Wants

In The Atlantic, Graeme Wood argues that the U.S. and its allies have fundamentally misunderstood ISIS, offering an extensive analysis of the organization to correct it. By equating the jihadism of ISIS with that of al-Qaeda and downplaying ISIS’s emphasis on medieval religiosity, Wood argues, the U.S. has sometimes gravely underestimated its opponent. “The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic,” Wood writes. “Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.”

Read at The Atlantic

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