Surviving the Islamic State: Contention, Cooperation, and Neutrality in Wartime Iraq by Austin J.Knuppe, New York, NY, Columbia University Press, 2024, xxii + 284 pp.

This academic monograph focuses on the question of how civilians survived the rise and fall of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq in the period between 2011 and 2017. Rather than following rational and well-planned strategies as individuals confronted Sunni extremists, the author's compellingly presented thesis is that they adopted an improvisational and dynamic—albeit often inconsistent—range of behavioral options. While Austin Knuppe rejects the notion that there is some simple explanation for how ordinary people continued living under the specter of IS, he maintains survival was not merely a random outcome. Accordingly, he identifies three important factors that influenced these civilians' decisions. These include whether they had a shared identity with the insurgents, their perception of IS as a threat and how they thought it would govern them, and their assessment of the chances that they would suffer arbitrary acts of violence at the hands of the jihadis. Ultimately, as Knuppe rightly maintains, the goal of most of these Iraqis was somehow to survive with their honor and dignity intact. Surviving the Islamic State is a well-researched empirical study. Part of the Columbia Studies in Middle East Politics series, it combines fieldwork that includes surveys and interviews with an impressive host of secondary sources. It should demand the attention of those interested in developments in contemporary Iraq and those seeking a better understanding of the Middle East. This work offers new wine from an old bottle as it brings fresh insights to the now-standard paradigm of issues related to resistance and collaboration in the face of the rule of an occupying power. Whether one's interest is historical—for example, the Nazi occupation of Europe during the Second World War—or more contemporary and topical, as in the case of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, one will learn much that can apply to such situations from this work. While occasionally the author might introduce without explanation a social science concept such as path dependency or a term like Asayish—the security forces in Iraq's Kurdistan Region—overall, he avoids unnecessary jargon so that general readers will also benefit from reading his book. One might note that Knuppe's treatment of his methodology follows the conclusion, and maps, figures, and tables make it relatively easy to follow the already-clear narrative. A strength of this work is its concise and accessible treatment of recent Iraqi history, which appears in the third chapter. Knuppe, a promising political scientist, makes brief mention of the US-led coalition's invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003, the ensuing insurgency, the sectarian clashes that arose between Iraq's majority Arab Shi'i and minority Sunni populations, Kurdish separatism, and the coalition's troop “surge” and Anbar Awakening that finally brought a respite to the fighting. Knuppe then goes more in depth as he examines Nouri al-Maliki's reelection as Iraqi prime minister and US President Barrack Obama's withdrawal of American forces. He then presents a cogent analysis of the rise of IS and the nature of its rule, concluding that it “governed communities under its control through a deft combination of coercion, co-option, and persuasion” (p. 62). The chapter concludes with a discussion of how an anti-IS coalition defeated the insurgents and liberated Mosul and almost all of Anbar Province by the end of 2017. Those who followed these convoluted events by reading newspapers and watching the news on television will welcome the clarity that the author brings to his subject. Similarly, his dispassionate and objective presentation of this contentious period is commendable. Among other attributes that recommend this book is Knuppe's approach to the issue of “ethno-sectarianism,” which he terms a “useful fiction” (p. 48). He rightly maintains that much of the literature addressing “wartime survival either essentialize social identity or ignore it altogether…” (p. 3). While the relationship between IS and the Iraqi population was a complex and changing one, undoubtedly, a local Sunni Arab was in a better position than Assyrian Christians, Sunni Kurds, Shi'i Arabs, or Yazidis when, in June 2014, IS fighters suddenly captured Mosul in less than a week. As the author stresses, while the lives of everyone in the community were affected by the new reality, members within the same identity groups reacted differently to their new circumstances. For example, Sunnis who lived in western Iraq had experienced “systematic political persecution after the US departure” (p. 111) at the hands of the second Maliki government. Thus, many were ready to accommodate an IS government rather than remain under the authority of Baghdad. Yet, alien rule undercut local authority, led to exploitation, and challenged deeply held values and beliefs. Some who had initially been willing to collaborate with the jihadis accordingly began to provide intelligence to and otherwise aid the government forces fighting against IS. Likewise, many Shi'is who at first welcomed Iranian support against the Sunni extremists wished for Tehran's exit from Iraq's internal affairs once the situation had changed for the better and IS had suffered a military defeat. After restating his thesis and some of its major points, the author concludes his book by suggesting issues worthy of further study and with a few comments on some of the challenges Iraq still needs to overcome to bring stability and better governance to its population. Respecting future research, Knuppe notes a gap in our understanding about how insurgents influence civilians outside the territory under their actual physical control. He also states that precisely how individuals perceive violence and assign responsibility for its employment remains indeterminate due to ambiguity concerning their social identities and their organizational affiliations. This shortcoming makes it difficult to determine how they recognize and respond to potential threats and therefore needs more attention. There are many problems Iraq still must overcome. Among these, Knuppe notes the ongoing foreign interference within the country and how Iran and Turkey have conflicting agendas in Iraq. He appropriately singles out the unaccountable, Tehran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMFs), which remain well armed and have formed a coalition that influences the central government. On this point, one might briefly point out that with Israel's blows to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah—Iran's proxies in Gaza and Lebanon—one might expect the issue of the PMFs to receive much more attention in the future. Finally, the author laments Baghdad's failure to bring stability to Iraq, with its economy suffering chronic unemployment and inflation, deeply embedded corruption at all levels of government, a collapsed infrastructure, and inadequate educational and health services. All this has fostered a fundamental lack of confidence in Iraq's leadership's ability to solve problems and a potentially existential threat to the social cohesion of the country. It is a sad picture that Knuppe paints, but an accurate one. With the fall of the Assad regime in neighboring Damascus, one is left to wonder if Baghdad will be next. Knuppe's book, written before many of these recent events occurred, does not go so far nor should it. Nonetheless, this useful study of civilian responses to the rule of the IS makes one wonder just how much more brutality Iraq's beleaguered and diverse population can take.