Modern insurgency: Islamic State

Abstract

The development of new technologies, among other things, has had an effect on modern insurgency as well. Modern technologies enhance networking and synchronization of insurgent forces. Unlike traditional insurgency, which was characterized by the struggle for liberation from a certain form of oppression, the characteristic of modern insurgency is the creation and survival of new entities, identities and ideas. Islamic State, as the most successful modern insurgent organization, emerges in a wave of different social, political and economic tensions in the Middle East and wider area. It has, above all, contested the territorial division of the region imposed after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It has also succeeded to establish a concept of government, national sovereignty and identity on the conquered territory. It is best known for its ruthless tactics used to win the control of the territory, but the question widely asked today is whether this tactics will be sufficient for this organization to create a state and, therefore, to successfully and sustainably govern and eventually gain wider support of the people on the taken territory, not only the support of fighters and power enforcers in the occupied territory. The organization has so far manifested the signs of growth and development. It is strategically flexible, economically viable, and uses the media efficiently. Religion is used as a basis for action, but also for control, although in its ranks there are people who are not motivated for action by religion 'only'. Finally, after three years of the Islamic State's existence, a new form of insurgency has been established, so that counterinsurgency must evolve if success in the fight against the Islamic State is sought.