This is the second book that I have read by David Kilcullen. The author is a former Australian soldier and a senior advisor to the US Military in addition to being a leading theorist of modern warfare. This book looks deeply at the fundamental Islamic terrorist state ISIS. ISIS grew out of the ashes of the second Iraqi Gulf War and subsequent insurgency plus the civil war in Syria which allowed it to consolidate territory there aswell as its land in Iraq. It has developed an overseas empire in addition to the main Islamic State area and in these often safer havens it conducts its training facilities plus expands recruitment into the global jihad it oversees after it effectively usurped Al Qaeda as the leading fundamental Islamic terror danger to the West. It’s effective internet communications and the release of its catchy ideology to disillusioned followers of Islam across the world has led to inspired homegrown attacks on US and UK soil among others. Often these attacks are spontaneous and ISIS later claims credit. Its territorial ownership has been disputed by the countries it inhabits and their militaries although due to the vacuum in Iraq and non-intervention in Syria, the withdrawal of Western troops paved the way for ISIS to develop and maintain a stronghold. It doesn’t have to fight conventional allied forces and although it suffers, especially under the Obama regime, a blistering number of predator drone strikes, it has learnt to live with this. Its consolidated territory has attracted many Muslims to the caliphate and represents a clear danger of the spread of deadly jihad from its base. The Russians and Iranians have on the whole done more than any other nations militarily to try and destroy ISIS. They have intervened in Syria and although often ISIS wasn’t a primary target of their military objectives it is an enemy to be destroyed. Kilcullen gives an in depth studied analysis based on direct personal experience of the failures of political leaders to have successfully dealt with the problem from its seeds in the womb to its zenith in co-orchestrating attacks on Western soil. There is a lot of blame to be directed at misguided policies and half-hearted approaches and a general failure of leaders to appreciate the venom of modern Islamic jihad and terrorism. It’s not just about cutting off the snake’s head by assassinating high-level targets as the body just regenerates and a new generation of emboldened and bitter fighters is produced. If the Iraqi and Syrian states cannot successfully provide civilian infrastructure then even though they may initially be coercive in their hold on territory they do organise as a proper nation state and provide facilities for normal civilians to live. It represents an evolution from Al Qaeda, a near defeated foe, as ISIS has brought suddenly a rival power to seduce the disaffected radical Muslim masses. Even though by now ISIS has been beaten back it is likely to scar the landscape for some time and could easily regenerate and continue to lead the fight of Global jihad.