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From Syria to Somalia, from Libya to Indonesia, from Yemen to the capitals of Europe, Islamic militancy appears stronger, more widespread, and more threatening than ever. In The New Threat prizewinning frontline reporter Jason Burke cuts through the mass of opinion and misinformation to explain the nature of the threat we now face. Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, The New Threat offers insight into the rise of ISIS and other groups, such as Boko Haram, which together command significant military power, rule millions, and control extensive territories. Elsewhere, Al Qaeda remains potent and is rapidly evolving. As a new generation of Western extremists emerges—as seen by the horrifying attacks in Paris and Brussels as well as the'lone wolf'operatives in the United States—Burke argues it is imperative that we understand who these groups are and what they actually want.

'Jason Burke is one of the world's leading experts on militant Islam. He embedded with the Kurdish peshmerga (currently at war with ISIS) while still in college. He was hanging out with the Taliban in the late 1990s. He witnessed the bombing of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in 2001 firsthand. With the current emergence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, no one is as well placed as Burke--hose previous books have been chosen as books of the year by The Economist, the Daily Telegraph, and The Independent--to explain this dramatic post-Al Qaeda phase of Islamic militancy. We are now, he argues, entering a new phase of radical violence that is very different from what has gone before, one that is going to redefine the West's relationship with terrorism and the Middle East.'--