'Omar Ashour masterfully explains ISIS's ways of war on battlefields that extended from Sirte to Mosul and from Raqqa to Sharm el-Sheikh. This is an important book that fills a conspicuous gap in the literature.'
Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University, author of Inside Terrorism

'This book will undoubtedly become a standard work for anyone interested in understanding how a small terrorist group can morph into a proto-state.'
Richard Barrett, Former Head of the United Nations ISIL (Da'esh), Al Qaida and Taliban Monitoring Team

'Omar Ashour delivers an impressively detailed study of ISIS war tactics and strategy in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt.'
Jean-Pierre Filiu, Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), author of From Deep State to Islamic State

'Ashour's excellent, methodical dissection of this fluid interaction of strategy and tactics provides a compelling explanation of how Islamic State fighters repeatedly won and endured against overwhelming odds.'
Yezid Sayigh, Carnegie Middle East Center, author of Armed Struggle and the Search for State

How did ISIS - a widely hated, massively outnumbered and ludicrously outgunned organisation - manage to occupy over 120 cities, towns and villages from the Southern Philippines to Western Libya?

Seeking to understand ISIS's combat effectiveness, Omar Ashour analyses the military and tactical innovations of ISIS and their predecessors in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt. He shows how their capacity to mix conventional military tactics with innovative guerrilla warfare and urban terrorism strategies allowed ISIS to expand and endure beyond expectations.

Key Features
. Based on extensive fieldwork in the Middle East, dozens of interviews with soldiers and fighters who engaged ISIS and their predecessors between 2013 and 2020, and hundreds of ISIS publications, battle-relevant videos and ISIS commanders' audio-releases
. Focuses on a core set of ISIS urban and suburban battles in Fallujah, Mosul, Ramadi, Raqqa (City and Governorate), Derna, Sirte and Northeastern Sinai
. Offers insights into how ISIS, like-minded organisations and other armed non-state actors may or will fight in the future

Omar Ashour is an Associate Professor of Security and Military Studies. He is the Founding Director of the Critical Security Studies Programme at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and the Strategic Studies Unit in the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies.

Cover image: © picture alliance / ZUMA Press

Cover design:

[EUP logo]
[...]

ISBN 978-1-4744-3821-6 [PPC]
ISBN 978-1-4744-3822-3 [cover]
Barcode