There have been some really fascinating articles lately about ISIS (or ISIL or Daesh or whatever the fuck we're calling them now). The stuff that's been snuck out of Syria and Iraq by some very brave individuals showing the statebuilding plans and long-term strategies of the new 'kaliphate' has been a real eyeopener. We think of them (or I certainly did) more like the kind of unstable warlords that often spring up in places where there's a civil war or an authority vacuum - but they are much more than that and the west really has to be careful not underestimate them.
And then there's this, whih I found really interesting. It's looking at this within a larger historical framework.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...slam-narrative