J.M. Berger on ISIS: The State of Terror Video Talk

In this talk from May of 2015, J.M. Berger talks about aspects of the book he co-authored with Jessica Stern called ISIS: The State of Terror. Berger talks about the rise of using social media within ISIS which has been so critical to their recruiting and to their notoriety. He attempts to explain their ideology which is both apocalyptic and millenarian. He suggests that to deal with this group of an estimated 30,000-50,000 members, we need to provide counter propaganda and alternatives to Sunnis who might potential join their ranks. In the Q&A time, Berger is questioned as to how a group that is so violent and sociopathic can recruit so many people. Berger explains that the Internet has been instrumental in uniting large amounts of people around all sorts of crazy beliefs, whether it be conspiracy theories or the radical ideology of ISIS.