Most people saw the Arab spring as a failed democratic revolution. Jiha-dists viewed the various uprisings very differently. For them, the events in 2011-12 and their turbulent aftermath heralded the advent of the Mahdi, the Muslim messiah, and the great battles that would accompany the End of Days, the Islamic equivalent of Armageddon. They sensed a double opportunity. Hastening the apocalypse was a sharp spur to action and recruitment; the Arab spring had helpfully created power vacuums that they could rush to fill. These two themes-apocalypse and jihad-come together in William McCants's fascinating study of Islamic State (IS). Half a dozen recent books have recounted how the group emerged in Iraq in 2006, established itself in Syria in 2011 and swept back into Iraq last year. Mr McCants is an Islamic specialist at Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank, and co-editor of a respected website. His contribution is to provide something close to an inside account by drawing on leaked or captured e-mails and other messages.
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机译：大多数人将阿拉伯之春视为失败的民主革命。圣战派人士对各种起义的看法截然不同。对他们而言，2011-12年的事件及其动荡的后果预示着穆斯林弥赛亚（Mahdi）的到来，以及与伊斯兰世界末日大决战（End of Days）相伴随的伟大战斗。他们感觉到了双重机会。催促世界末日是对行动和征兵的强烈刺激；阿拉伯之春有益地造成了权力真空，它们可能会迅速填补。这两个主题-启示录和圣战-一起出现在威廉·麦康茨对伊斯兰国（IS）的有趣研究中。最近有六本书回顾了该组织如何在2006年出现在伊拉克，如何在2011年建立在叙利亚，并于去年重新回到伊拉克。麦坎茨先生是华盛顿智囊团布鲁金斯学会（Brookings Institution）的伊斯兰专家，并且是一个备受尊敬的网站的联合编辑。他的贡献是通过利用泄漏或捕获的电子邮件和其他消息来提供接近内部帐户的功能。
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