The Islamic State: A Political-Religious Totalitarian Regime

Abstract

This paper explores the Islamic State’s form of government as a political-religious totalitarian regime. This new classification is derived from an in-depth analysis of the State’s revolutionary transformation from a group of radicalized Sunni Muslims into an entirely unique, organized, and global terrorist organization with a totalitarian foundation. The State utilizes common totalitarian tropes in its agenda and ideology, practice of total control, recruitment, destruction of history, and symbolism. Furthermore, analysis and translation of the ideological view of the writings by political theorists Dostoevsky,
Hoffer, and Arendt expand on these tropes, providing additional support for the State’s classification as a political-religious totalitarian regime. Because of the Islamic State’s status as a global threat, both defining and understanding this new classification are essential; however, in order to know how to address this threat, it must first be understood.