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Authors: Andrey Fedorchenko, Director, Center for the Middle East Studies. Institute for International Studies,
Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations, Mnistry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Fed-
eration, Professor, Doctor of Science (Economics)
Alexander Krylov, leading research associate, Center for the Mddle East Studies at the same Institute, Doctor
of Science (History)
FUTURE GENERATIONS will associate the
early twenty-first century with an upsurge of inter-
national tension and the emergence of new security
threats in all spheres of human life and activities.
In the Middle East, the process began five years ago
with the Arab Spring, the term coined to describe
a wave of radical Islamism that inundated the re-
gion. Today, it is a knot of numerous geopolitical,
economic, demographic, religious and other con-
tradictions of worldwide significance. Disentanglement will require time and political will.
The "Islamic boom" reached its present dimensions against the background of the crisis of "sec-
ular ideologies" (Western liberalism and communism, in the first place). In search of a way out
the broad Muslim masses turned to familiar religious values, their spirit and mentality being close
to their hearts and minds. As could be expected, the Muslim world has gradually acquired Islamist
parties, movements and organizations, many of them determined to liquidate secular regimes
and consolidate the positions of Islam.
The secular community, therefore, should undertake an in-depth interdisciplinary analysis of the
terrorist Islamic State, which is a multidimensional phenomenon, and identify the prospects and
methods of struggle. The recently published report "The Islamic State: The Phenomenon, Evo-
lution and Prospects" by the Institute for International Studies (IMI) of the MGIMO can be
described as one of the important contributions to the analysis of the Islamic State. It belongs
to the IMI series of analytical papers dealing with the crucial problems of the Middle East,
North Africa, Central Asia, and the Caucasus and possible developments in these regions (pre-
vious publications can be found on the sites of the MGIMO and IMI).
The authors have convincingly demonstrated that the absolutely new phenomenon best described
as a terrorist international which calls itself the Islamic State brought Islamist radicalism to its
apotheosis. On July 29, 2014, the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, the jihadist Islamic
State (IS) (earlier known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL) declared a caliphate
on the occupied Iraqi and Syrian territories. The IS leaders capitalized on weak governance and
exploited fierce ethnic and tribal conflicts to lure crowds to their side, gain more weight and at-
tract more money than any other extremist group had ever accomplished.
The authors have pointed out that "there is a growing awareness in the region that the battle
was lost to those civilizations that have adjusted themselves to the rivalries in the new global
http://interaffairs.ru
Apotheosis of Islamist Radicalism: An Academic Assessment