ISIS: The State of Terror Part 17

2.Portions of this section were adapted from J. M. Berger, "The Islamic State vs. Al Qaeda: Who's Winning the War to Become the Jihadi Superpower?" Foreign Policy, September 2, 2014, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/09/02/islamic_state_vs_al_qaeda_next_jihadi_super_power.

3.World Islamic Front, "Jihad against Jews and Crusaders," statement, February 23, 1998, http://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm. Al Qaeda did formally change its name to "Qa`idat al-Jihad to commemorate the merger, but the vernacular never embraced the new name.

4."Jama'a al-Islamiya rejects a.s.sem Abdel Magued," Egypt Independent, May 12, 2013, http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/jama-al-islamiya-rejects-a.s.sem-abdel-magued.

5.Michael Smith, "a.n.a.lysis: Al-Qa'ida Renews Its Allegiance to Mullah Omar," Downrange blog, July 21, 2014.

6.Vahid Brown, "The Facade of Allegiance: Bin Ladin's Dubious Pledge to Mullah Omar," CTC Sentinel 3, no. 1 (January 2010), https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-facade-of-allegiance-bin-ladin%E2%80%99s-dubious-pledge-to-mullah-omar.

7.Aaron Zelin, "The War Between ISIS and al-Qaeda for Supremacy of the Global Jihadist Movement," Research Notes, Washington Inst.i.tute, no. 20 (June 2014), http://www.washingtoninst.i.tute.org/uploads/Doc.u.ments/pubs/ResearchNote_20_Zelin.pdf.

8.Liz Sly, "Al-Qaeda Disavows Any Ties with Radical Islamist ISIS Group in Syria, Iraq," Washington Post, February 3, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/al-qaeda-disavows-any-ties-with-radical-islamist-isis-group-in-syria-iraq/2014/02/03/2c9afc3a-8cef-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html.

9."This Is the Promise of Allah," Al Hayat Media Center, 2014, https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/shaykh-abc5ab-mue1b8a5ammad-al-e28098adnc481nc4ab-al-shc481mc4ab-22this-is-the-promise-of-G.o.d22-en.pdf; J. M. Berger, "Gambling on the Caliphate," IntelWire, June 29, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/06/gambling-on-caliphate.html.

10.J. M. Berger, "The State of the 'Caliphate' Is . . . Meh," IntelWire, July 2, 2014.

11.J. M. Berger, "IS Backlash Spills Over on Jabhat al Nusra," IntelWire, July 12, 2014.

12.Greg Miller, "Fighters Abandoning Al-Qaeda Affiliates to Join Islamic State, U.S. Officials Say," Washington Post, August 9, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fighters-abandoning-al-qaeda-affiliates-to-join-islamic-state-us-officials-say/2014/08/09/c5321d10-1f08-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html.

13."Senior Al-Qaeda Leader Calls for Followers to Support ISIS," National News Yemen, July 5, 2014, http://nationalyemen.com/2014/07/05/senior-al-qaeda-leader-calls-for-followers-to-support-isis/.

14.Walid Ramzi, "ISIS Caliphate Spilts AQIM," Magharebia, July 18, 2014, http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2014/07/18/feature-01; Mawa.s.si Lahcen, "Islamic State Tempts Morocco Jihadists," Magharebia, November 14, 2014, http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/reportage/2014/11/14/reportage-01.

15."Jailed Indonesian Terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir Has Been Funding ISIS: Anti-Terrorism Chief," Straits Times, November 18, 2014.

16."Abu Bakar Bashir's Sons Reject ISIS, Form New Group," Khabar Southeast Asia, August 16, 2014.

17.Mich.e.l.le FlorCruz, "Philippine Terror Group Abu Sayyaf May Be Using ISIS Link for Own Agenda," International Business Times, September 25, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/philippine-terror-group-abu-sayyaf-may-be-using-isis-link-own-agenda-1695156.

18.John Simpson, "Afghan Militant Fighters 'May Join Islamic State,'" BBC Asia, September 2, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29009125.

19.Jon Boone, "ISIS Ascent in Syria and Iraq Weakening Pakistani Taliban," Guardian, October 22, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/22/pakistani-taliban-spokesman-isis-pledge.

20."Nigeria Rejects Boko Haram 'Caliphate' Claim," Al Jazeera, August 25, 2014.

21."Local Support for Dreaded Islamic State Growing in Pakistan: Report," Times of India, November 14, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Local-support-for-dreaded-Islamic-State-growing-in-Pakistan-Report/articleshow/45149421.cms.

22.Simon Speakman Cordall, "8,000 Young Tunisian Men Are Eager to Join Islamic State," Newsweek, August 28, 2014.

23.Kevin Sullivan, "Tunisia, After Igniting Arab Spring, Sends Most Fighters to Islamic State in Syria," Washington Post, October 28, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tunisia-after-igniting-arab-spring-sends-the-most-fighters-to-islamic-state-in-syria/2014/10/28/b5db4faa-5971-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2_story.html.

24."Revolution Muslim Leader Sentenced to 2.5 Years for Threatening Jews," ADL blog, April 25, 2014.

25.Shaikh Abdullah Faisal, "Is the New Caliphate Valid?" audio recording, July 21, 2014, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2014/07/audio-is-caliphate-valid.html.

26.Murray Wardrop, "Anjem Choudary: Profile," Telegraph, January 4, 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6930447/Anjem-Choudary-profile.html; Scott Kaufman, "CNN Host Stunned When Radical Muslim Cleric Makes 9/11 Joke During Soundcheck," RawStory, August 31, 2014; "Anjem Choudary held in London terror raids," BBC, September 25, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29358758; Griff Witte, "In Britain, Islamist extremist Anjem Choudary proves elusive," Washington Post, October 11, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-britain-islamist-extremist-anjem-choudary-proves-elusive/2014/10/11/eb731514-4e43-11e4-8c24-487e92bc997b_story.html; Andrew Anthony, "Anjem Choudary: the British extremist who backs the caliphate," The Guardian, September 6, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/07/anjem-choudary-islamic-state-isis.

27.Michael Safi, "Radical Preacher Back in Melbourne After Deportation from Philippines," Guardian, July 22, 2014.

28.Niraj Warikoo, "U.S.: Dearborn Cleric Popular with ISIS Fighters Owes $250K for Fraud," Detroit Free Press, August 21, 2014; Shiv Malik, and Michael Safi, "Revealed: the radical clerics using social media to back British jihadists in Syria," The Guardian, April 15, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/15/preachers-spiritual-cheerleaders-social-media-syria-london-university; Joseph A. Carter, Shiraz Maher and Peter R. Neumann, "Greenbirds: Measuring Importance and Influence in Syrian Foreign Fighter Networks," International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, April 2014, http://icsr.info/2014/04/icsr-report-inspires-syrian-foreign-fighters/; Clarissa Ward, "US Cleric Inspiring Jihadists in Syria?", CBS News, April 15, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fiery-speeches-lure-americans-to-fight-in-syria/.

29.Although Twitter had shut down ISIS's official accounts, individual accounts remained on Twitter and on file-sharing services that the authors have determined are operated by members of ISIS's official media team. For the occasion, ISIS also launched a new website for uploading its press releases.

30.Dabiq no. 5, November 2014, 24.

31.Shadi Bushra, "Egypt's Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis Swears Allegiance to ISIS: Statement," Al Arabiya, November 4, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/04/Egypt-s-Ansar-Bayt-al-Maqdis-swears-allegiance-to-ISIS.html; "Egypt Militant Group Denies Pledging Loyalty to Islamic State: Twitter," Reuters, November 4, 2014, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/us-egypt-militants-islamicstate-denial-idUSKBN0IO19F20141104.

32."The Charge of the Ansar (supporters)," video, November 15, 2014; http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/14/uk-egypt-security-claim-idUKKCN0IY2HL20141114.

33.Data collected from Twitter, November 2014.

34.Pledge from Libya to the Islamic State, November 10, 2014; "Libya's Islamist Militant Parade with ISIS Flags," video, Al Arabiya, October 6, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2014/10/06/Video-Libya-s-Islamist-militants-parade-with-ISIS-flags.html; Aaron Zelin, "The Islamic State's First Colony in Libya," Washington Inst.i.tute, October 10, 2014, http://www.washingtoninst.i.tute.org/policy-a.n.a.lysis/view/the-islamic-states-first-colony-in-libya.

35.Leela Jacinto, "Jund al-Khalifa: The IS-linked Group That Shot into the Spotlight," France 24, September 25, 2014, http://www.france24.com/en/20140923-terrorism-france-algeria-jund-al-khalifa-kidnapping-islamic-state/.

36."A Statement About What Was Contained in the Speech of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'Even If the Disbelievers Dislike It,'" video, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, November 21, 2014.

37.Aaron Zelin, "The Islamic State's Archipelago of Provinces," Washington Inst.i.tute, November 14, 2014, http://www.washingtoninst.i.tute.org/policy-a.n.a.lysis/view/the-islamic-states-archipelago-of-provinces.

38.Dabiq no. 5, 24.

39.Declan Walsh, "Allure of ISIS for Pakistanis Is on the Rise," New York Times, November 21, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/world/asia/isis-pakistan-militants-taliban-jihad.html.

40.J. M. Berger, "IS Closes In on JN in Hastag Battle, but Attention Is Divided," IntelWire, October 22, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/10/is-closes-in-on-jn-in-hashtag-battle.html; J. M. Berger, "Gaza Dominates Talk in Jihadist Finance Networks; IS Still Struggles for Acceptance," IntelWire, August 9, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/08/gaza-dominates-talk-in-jihadist-finance.html; J. M. Berger, "IS Backlash Spills Over on Jabhat Al Nusra," IntelWire, July 12, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/07/is-backlash-spills-over-on-jabhat-al.html; Ruth Sherlock, " 'Moderate' Syrian Rebels Defecting to ISIS, Blaming Lack of U.S. Support and Weapons," National Post, November 11, 2014, http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/11/moderate-syrian-rebels-defecting-to-isis-blaming-lack-of-u-s-support-and-weapons/.

41.Jamie Dettmer, "ISIS and Al Qaeda Ready to Gang Up on Obama's Rebels," Daily Beast, November 11, 2014, www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/11/al-qaeda-s-killer-new-alliance-with-isis.html-via=mobile&source=email; Deb Riechmann, "AP Sources: IS, Al-Qaida Reach Accord in Syria," a.s.sociated Press, The Big Story, November 13, 2014, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c71e3be959414e69bde25f792e18aad6/ap-sources-al-qaida-reach-accord-syria; "Did IS Refuse Truce with Syrian Islamist Factions?" Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 13, 2014, http://www.rferl.mobi/a/islamic-state-truce-syria-factions-islamist/26690340.html; Nick Paton Walsh, "Al-Nusra Advances in Syria's Idlib Area, Pushing Back Moderates, Activists Say," CNN World, last update November 3, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/03/world/meast/syria-al-nusra-front/.

42.Thomas Joscelyn, "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Calls for Reconciliation Between Jihadist Groups," Long War Journal, July 2, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/al_qaeda_in_the_isla.php; Thomas Joscelyn, "Ansar al Sharia Tunisia Leader Says Gains in Iraq Should Be Cause for Jihadist Reconciliation," Long War Journal, June 14, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/ansar_al_sharia_tuni_8.php#; Thomas Joscelyn, "Saudi Cleric's Reconciliation Initiative for Jihadist Draws Wide Support, then a Rejection," Long War Journal, January 27, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/01/saudi_clerics_reconc.php#; Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio, "Shabaab Leader Calls for Mediation in Syria, Says Zawahiri is 'Our Shiekh and Emir,'" Hiiran Online, http://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/May/54709/shabaab_leader_calls_for_mediation_in_syria_says_zawahiri_is_our_sheikh_and_emir.aspx#sthash.ldvgpZxe.dpbs, last updated May 17, 2014.

43.Kristina Wong, "al Qaeda in Yemen Declares Support for ISIS," Hill, August 19, 2014, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/215480-al-qaeda-in-yemen-declares-support-for-isis; Joscelyn, "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Calls for Reconciliation Between Jihadist Groups"; Sam Jones, "AQ Group Offers Support to ISIS," Financial Times, September 17, 2014, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d964dcb6-3e82-11e4-adef-00144feabdc0.html.

44.Joanna Paraszczuk, "Which Dagestani Caucasus Emirate Groups Are Switching To IS?", From Chechnya to Syria, http://www.chechensinsyria.com/?p=23223.

45.J. M. Berger, "Zawahiri Falls off the Map, Is Rebuked by Top al Nusra Figure," IntelWire, August 18, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/08/zawahiri-falls-off-map-gets-rebuked-by.html.

46.Andres Perez, "With ISIS Stealing Its Thunder, al Qaeda Declares Jihad on India," Week, September 4, 2014, http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/267515/speedreads-with-isis-stealing-its-thunder-al-qaeda-declares-jihad-on-india; "Overshadowed by ISIS, al Qaeda Claims Expansion," CBS News, September 4, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/overshadowed-by-isis-al-qaeda-leader-zawahri-expansion-india/.

47.Arif Rafiq, "The New Al Qaeda Group in South Asia Has Nothing to Do with ISIS," New Republic, September 5, 2014, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119333/al-qaeda-indian-subcontinent-not-response-islamic-state.

48.Data collected from Twitter, September and October 2014.

49.Faith Karimi, Omar Nor, and Jason Hanna, "Al-Shabaab Names Successor to Slain Leader; Somalia on High Alert," CNN, September 7, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/06/world/africa/somalia-G.o.dane-high-alert/; "Al-Shabab Names New Leader After G.o.dane Death in US Strike," BBC Africa, September 6, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29093200; Thomas Joscelyn, "Shabaab Names New Emir, Reaffirms Allegiance to al Qaeda," Long War Journal, September 6, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/09/shabaab_names_new_em.php.

50."Some Ruminations on the Syrian Foreign Fighters Problem," Haganah Forum, http://forum.internet-haganah.com/ipb/index.php?/topic/2642-some-ruminations-on-the-syrian-foreign-fighter-problem/, accessed November 24, 2013.

51.For example, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, attempted Fort Hood a.s.sailant Jason Abdo, Seattle plotter Khalid Abdul Latif, the Fort Dix Six, and many others. See J. M. Berger, "Why U.S. Terrorists Reject the Al Qaeda Playbook," Atlantic, July 19, 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/why-us-terrorists-reject-the-al-qaeda-playbook/242019/.

52.Katherine Zimmerman and Alexis Knutsen, "Warning: AQAP's Looming Threat in Yemen," American Enterprise Inst.i.tute, August 14, 2014, http://www.aei.org/publication/warning-aqaps-looming-threat-in-yemen/.

53.Jack Jenkins, "The Book That Really Explains ISIS (Hint: It's Not the Quran," Think Progress, September 10, 2014, http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/10/3565635/the-book-that-really-explains-isis-hint-its-not-the-quran/.

54."Libya, Calvinball, Solidarity: Reflections on Refelctions," Abu Aardvark blog, November 19, 2014, http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2014/11/reflections-on-reflections.html.

55."Oklahoma Beheading: FBI Probing Suspect's Recent Conversion to Islam," Fox News, September 27, 2014, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/09/27/woman-beheaded-at-oklahoma-food-distribution-center-police-say/; "Oklahoma Beheading Suspect Described as a 'Little Odd,'" CBS News, September 27, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alton-nolen-oklahoma-beheading-suspect-described-as-a-little-odd/.

56.Henry Lee, "Guns Seized from Man Who Wanted 'We Love ISIS' Hat," SFGate, November 13, 2014, http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Guns-seized-from-man-who-wanted-We-Love-ISIS-5890600.php.

57.James Gordon Meek and Josh Margolin, "NYC Ax Attacker Was Consumed by Desire to Strike U.S. Authority Figures, Police Say," ABC News, November 3, 2014, http://abcnews.go.com/US/nyc-ax-attacker-consumed-desire-strike-us-authority/story?id=26664787.

58.Daniel LeBlanc and Steven Chase, "Two Soldiers Struck in Quebec Hit-And-Run," Globe and Mail, October 20, 2014, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/two-soldiers-injured-in-quebec-hit-and-run/article21177035/. Data collected from Twitter, October 2014.

59.Dan Wilkofsky and Osama Abu Zeid, "US-Backed SRF 'No Longer' in South Idlib After Nusra Victory," Syria: Direct, November 4, 2014, http://syriadirect.org/main/30-reports/1653-us-backed-srf-no-longer-in-south-idlib-after-nusra-victory.

60.Michael Noonan, "15,000-Plus for Fighting: The Return of the Foreign Fighters," War on the Rocks, October 8, 2014, http://warontherocks.com/2014/10/15000-plus-for-fighting-the-return-of-the-foreign-fighters/.

CHAPTER 9: ISIS'S PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.

1.Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, "Foreign Fighter in Iraq and Syria: Where Do They Come From?" infograph, http://www.rferl.org/contentinfographics/infographics/26584940.html, accessed December 11, 2014.

2.Alessandria Masi, "Where to Find ISIS Supporters: A Map of Militant Groups Aligned with the Islamic State Group," International Business Times, October 9, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/where-find-isis-supporters-map-militant-groups-aligned-islamic-state-group-1701878.

3."Remaining and Expanding," Dabiq no. 5 (November 2014): 30.

4."Brussels Jewish Museum Killings: Suspect 'Admitted Attack,'" BBC News (2014), June 1, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27654505.

5.Justin Huggler, "ISIL Jihadists 'Offered Teenager $25,000 to Carry out Bombings in Vienna,'" The Telegraph, October 30, 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11199628/Boy-14-who-planned-Vienna-bombings-was-recruited-on-internet-by-Isil.html.

6."Gunman in Ottawa Attack Prepared Video of Himself," The Telegraph, October 26, 2014, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/11189257/Gunman-in-Ottawa-attack-prepared-video-of-himself.html.

7.Thomas Hegghammer, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" American Political Science Review 107, no. 1 (February 2013); Daniel Byman and Jeremy Shapiro, "Homeward Bound? Don't Hype the Threat of Returning Jihadists," Foreign Affairs (November/December 2014); Arwa Damon and Gul Tuysuz, "How She Went from a Schoolteacher to an ISIS Member," CNN, October 6, 2014.

8.These statistics are based on figures from the United States: Chris Jagger, "The 25 Most Common Causes of Death," MedHelp, http://www.medhelp.org/general-health/articles/The-25-Most-Common-Causes-of-Death/193.

9.Paul Slovic, Baruch Fischoff and Sarah Lichtenstein, "Facts and Fears: Understanding Perceived Risk," in Richard Schwing and Walter Albers, eds., Societal Risk a.s.sessment: How Safe is Safe Enough? (New York: Plenum Press, 1980), 181216.

10.Ayman al-Zawahiri, Letter to Abu Musa al-Zarqawi, October 11, 2005.

11.We use the term "risk" to denote the possibility of an adverse outcome whose probability is between zero and one. It is important to point out at the outset that one school of thought, more prevalent in Europe, rejects many of the a.s.sumptions appealed to here. The alternative school questions the following a.s.sertions: that risk (other than actuarial risk) exists and can be quantified or that risk trade-off a.n.a.lysis can be accomplished; that experts and laypeople are different from one another; that "dread" is a property of risks; and that publics are anxious and irrational and that policy should compensate for these qualities. Sheila Jasanoff, email communication, August 18, 2002. We do not enter into this debate here, except to highlight that Daniel Kahneman, one of the foremost experts, is describing his reaction as a layperson in the text.

12.Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, "Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases," Science 185 (1974): 112431; Paul Slovic, Baruch Fischoff, and Sarah Lichtenstein, "Facts and Fears: Understanding Perceived Risk," in Richard Schwing and Walter Albers, eds., Societal Risk a.s.sessment: How Safe Is Safe Enough? (New York: Plenum Press, 1980), 181216. Other biases include that people tend to be overconfident in the accuracy of their a.s.sessments, even when those a.s.sessments are based on nothing more than guessing. And people seem to desire certainty: they respond to the anxiety of uncertainty by blithely ignoring uncertain risks; and a belief that while others may be vulnerable (for example to driving accidents), they themselves are not.

13.Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, "Rational Choice and the Framing of Decisions," in David E. Bell, Howard Raiffa, and Amos Tversky, eds., Decision Making (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988): 16792. Originally published in Journal of Business 59, no. 4 (1986): 525178.

14.For problems in the applicability of prospect theory to group decision making, see Jack S. Levy, "Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations," International Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1 (1997): 87112.

15.Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011): 32223.

16.This paragraph summarizes Susan Nieman, Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press: 2002). For an updated understanding of Eichmann, see Bettina Stangneth, Eichmann Before Jerusalem (New York: Random House, 2014).

17.William Miller, The Anatomy of Disgust (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), 26, citing Susan Miller, "Disgust: Conceptualization, Development and Dynamics," International Review of Psychoa.n.a.lysis, 13 (1986): 295307.

18.Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (New York: Viking, 2011): 143.

19.Ibid., 175.

20.Simon Baron-Cohen, The Science of Evil (New York: Basic Books, 2011), 18.

21.Ronald Shouten and James Silver, Almost a Psychopath: Do I (or Does Someone I Know) Have a Problem with Manipulation and Lack of Empathy? (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2012).

22.Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, 182.

23.Ibid., 695.

24."From the factual knowledge that there is a universal human nature and the moral principle that no person has grounds for privileging his or her interests over others, we can deduce a great deal about how we ought to run our affairs," Pinker argues. "People are better off abjuring violence, if everyone else agrees to do so, and vesting authority in a disinterested third party. But since that third party will consist of human beings, not angels, their power must be checked by the power of other people, to force them to govern with the consent of the governed. They may not use violence against their citizens beyond the minimum necessary to prevent violence." Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined, 1183.

25.In 2005 Sheikh Al-Azhar, Ayatollah Sistani, and Sheikh Qaradawi, three prominent Islamic scholars (representing both Shia and Sunni perspectives), provided religious fatwas for the Amman Message. Signed by more than five hundred signatories from eighty-four countries, the message officially recognized thirteen Muslim sects, forbade takfir, and set forth preconditions for issuing fatwas. "The Amman Message," http://www.ammanmessage.com/, accessed November 29, 2014.

26.Scott Atran and Jeremy Ginges, "Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict," Science 336 (2012): 885. Atran and his team are studying the impact of identify fusion (which occurs when individuals merge so strongly with the ident.i.ty of a group that they begin to feel psychologically and viscerally at one with it, so much so that their personal ident.i.ty collapses into a collective one), together with sacred values, which, according to their research, can generate a collective sense of invincibility and special destiny, as well as "devoted actors" willing to kill and die for a cause. Scott Atran, Hammad Sheikh, and Angel Gomez, "Devoted Actors Sacrifice for Close Commrade and Sacred Cause," PNAS 111, no. 50 (2014): 177023. While we agree that sacred values may make conflicts more intractable, we have two issues with attributing ISIS's rise to sacred values. It is not only "belief in G.o.ds and miracles" that are intensified when we are reminded of death, but any value. Human beings are the only living beings forced to live with the knowledge of their own demise, as far as we know; and that knowledge creates existential anxiety. Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997). Thomas Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, and Jeff Greenberg developed terror management theory, which posits that all human behavior is motivated by unconscious terror of death and the need to manage its attendant anxiety. We do this through symbolic creations that make us feel that we will live on, through our work (including terrorist acts), religious or political affiliations, or culture. See Jeff Greenberg, et al., "Evidence for Terror Management Theory II: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to Those Who Threaten or Bolster the Cultural Worldview," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58, no. 2 (February 1990): 30818; Brian Burke et al., "Two Decades of Terror Management Theory: A Meta-a.n.a.lysis of Mortality Salience Research," Personality and Social Psychology Review 14, no. 2 (2010): 15595.

27.We can't help but wonder why ISIS is focusing on those "sacred" values that justify killing Shi'a, enslaving "polytheists," and pushing h.o.m.os.e.xuals off tall buildings (although h.o.m.os.e.xual s.e.x appears to be tolerated among ISIS's own fighters). Tim Arango, "A Boy in ISIS. A Suicide Vest. A Hope to Live," New York Times, December 28, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/27/world/middleeast/syria-isis-recruits-teenagers-as-suicide-bombers.html.

28.There is enormous literature that attempts to address this question, both at the level of individuals and ma.s.s movements. A good summary is provided in James Waller, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Ma.s.s Killing (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). Stern argues in Terror in the Name of G.o.d that historical trauma and collective humiliation are important explanatory factors; in the case of ISIS's rise, both colonial rule and sectarian policies play a role. See also the works of Vamik Volkan, discussed at the end of this chapter.

29.Rudolph J. Rummel, Death by Government: Genocide and Ma.s.s Murder Since 1900 (New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Transaction, 1994), 66, as cited in Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, 149.

30.Rummel, Death by Government, 66.

31.In England, public executions, often in the form of hangings, attracted enormous, unruly, often drunken crowds; and corpses were displayed on gibbets. Henry Fielding, writing in the mid-eighteenth century, complained that public execution lacked dignity and that hangings were staged more like carnivals than as solemn and edifying occasions. A member of Parliament named John Scott complained in 1773 that hangings carried out in public "degrade the man to the brute," "extinguish all compa.s.sion in the bosom of the punisher," and "harden the human heart." By the late eighteenth century, a movement arose to ban public executions. The last public execution occurred in England in 1868. Randall McGowen, "Civilizing Punishment: The End of the Public Execution in England," Journal of British Studies 33, no. 3 (July 1994): 257.

32.This is partly due to the United Nations General a.s.sembly vote in 2007 in favor of a resolution for a non-binding moratorium on the death penalty, a measure that had failed in 1994 and 1999; Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, 150.

As of 2013, two-thirds of countries had either outlawed capital punishment or did not employ it in practice. For details, see "Death Sentences and Executions 2013," Amnesty International, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/a.s.set/ACT50/001/2014/en/652ac5b3-3979-43e2-b1a1-6c4919e7a518/act500012014en.pdf.

33."Guillotine," Encyclopaedia Britannica, online academic edition, 2014.

34."Terrorism, n," OED Online, September 2014, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/199608?redirectedFrom=terrorism, accessed September 11, 2014.

35."Guillotine," Encyclopaedia Britannica.

36."Horst Fisher Biography," Wollheim Memorial, accessed November 29, 2014.