Rethinking Islamic state’s violence

This study suggests a new and different perspective on terror attacks executed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated organizations. Based on nearly 4,000 attacks between June 2014 and 2016, the study argues that the terror policy of this organization is an outcome of primordial and instrumental calculations for striking their Sunni enemies. A thorough mapping of the Sunni targets that were attacked leads to the conclusion that these attacks were an instrumental tool for achieving political goals, mainly to recruit better-trained personnel to Salafi or Takfiri organizations and deterring incumbent governments from hitting ISIS’s caliphate. Among these targets: (1) heads of state, as occurred in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia; (2) government ministers and ministries in Saudi Arabia and Iraq; (3) military camps, and economic facilities. This research shows that primordialism alone does not provide a full explanation for these attacks. Instead, we suggest a combination of primordialism and instrumentalism for analyzing global jihad organizations’ terrorism.