ABSTRACT
Islamic State is an extremist Islamic organisation that grew out of a violent insurgent group that has changed its name a number of times to reflect its geographic ambitions. Islamic State has previously been referred to as ‘Islamic State in Iraq’ (ISI); ‘Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham’ (but also ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ – ISIS); ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL); and, more recently, as Daesh (from the Arabic al-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham). However, this title can be understood in two ways – as a play on words and as an insult (‘to trample down and crush’ and ‘a bigot who imposes his view on others’) (BBC News, 2015; Wedeman, 2015).
