Branding caliphate

Branding caliphate. ISIS, Al‑Baghdadi and the new era of global jihadism In Summer 2014 Abu Bakr al‑Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al‑Sham declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. By referring to the marketing technique of branding the author analyzes how the caliphate is created in the public space. In this case branding recalls the classical techniques used by Islamists (takfir, fighting bida’), but also means such things as using new information technologies and sophisticated forms of violence. The marking success of caliphate is the bigger that it is innovative, is an Utopia that became real and supports negative Western stereotypes about Islam.