The New Threat From Islamic Militancy

The New Threat From Islamic Militancy

Summary

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2016

In The New Threat renowned expert and prize-winning reporter Jason Burke provides the clearest and most comprehensive guide to Islamic militancy today.


From Syria to Somalia, from Libya to Indonesia, from Yemen to the capitals of Europe, Islamic militancy appears stronger, more widespread and more threatening than ever. ISIS and other groups, such as Boko Haram, together command significant military power, rule millions and control extensive territories. Elsewhere Al-Qaeda remains potent and is rapidly evolving. Factions and subsidiaries proliferate worldwide, and a new generation of Western Jihadists are emerging, joining conflicts abroad and attacking at home. Who are these groups and what do they actually want? What connects them and how do they differ? How are we to understand their tactics of online activism and grotesque violence?

Drawing on almost two decades of frontline reporting as well as a vast range of sources, from intelligence officials to the militants themselves, renowned expert Jason Burke cuts through the mass of opinion and misinformation to explain dispassionately and with total clarity the nature of the threat we now face. He shows that Islamic militancy has changed dramatically in recent years. Far from being a ‘medieval’ throwback, it is modern, dynamic and resilient. Despite everything, it is entirely comprehensible.

The New Threat is essential reading if we are to understand our fears rather than succumb to them, to act rationally and effectively, and to address successfully one of the most urgent problems of our time.

Reviews

  • This is the book for which anyone bewildered by nature of Islamic militancy, and longing for a primer, has been waiting … this is history written directly from the front line ... If it is journalists who write the first draft of history, then historians of the early 21st century will be lucky in having Jason Burke as a source
    Tom Holland, Evening Standard

About the author

Jason Burke

Jason Burke is a globally recognised expert on terrorism and has reported for two decades on this and related conflicts around the world for the Guardian. He is the best-selling, prize-winning author of four critically acclaimed books, including The New Threat from Islamic Militancy, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize; ; The 9/11 Wars, ‘the best overview of the 9/11 decade in print’ (Economist) and the ground-breaking Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam. He has made numerous appearances on television and radio and contributes to periodicals such as Foreign Policy, Prospect and the New Statesman.
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