Introduction
1 Counter-revolution - A Pattern Emerges
Lessons from the past - nothing is new
Lessons from the past - the preventive counter-revolutions
Britain's hungry empire
The threat from Arab nationalism
Trouble on the Arabian Peninsula - revolution reaches Yemen
The contagion spreads - the Sultanate of Oman
The smaller sheikhdoms - preventive measures
2 Cold War, Oil War - America Takes Over
America's even hungrier empire
America's global counter-revolution
America's Middle East - special treatment for a special case
Removing the rivals - Iranian democracy
Removing the rivals - taking on the Arabs
Strengthening the status quo - the arms trade
Strengthening the status quo - military bases
Strengthening the status quo - mercenaries
3 The Road to al-Qaeda - The CIA's Baby
Searching for an Islamic state - Britain's caliphate
Searching for an Islamic state - Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood
Mobilizing jihad - the case of Afghanistan
Operation Cyclone - Anglo-American jihad
Foreign fighters, foreign cash
The Islamic Republic of Iran - a secret relationship
4 Allied to Jihad - Useful Idiots
The Taliban - America's new ally
Keeping bin Laden on board
The war against Serbia - Bosnian jihad
The war against Serbia - Kosovan jihad
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - Britain's new ally
The road to 9/11 - managing blowback
9/11 - saving Saudi Arabia
9/11 - protecting the funding networks
The fake 'War on Terror' - Afghanistan
The fake 'War on Terror' - Iraq
5 The Arab Spring - A System Threatened
A new challenge, a new hope
The road to 2011 - regimes in decay
Tunisia - the Jasmine Revolution
Egypt - the Republic of Tahrir
Yemen - revolution in Arabia
Breaking the fear barrier - a chance for cosmopolitanism
The economic storm - enter neo-liberalism
The economic storm - the rise of crony capitalism
The economic storm - the rise of Gulf capitalism
From modernizing Arabs to revolutionary Arabs
Cosmopolitan communications - from satellites to social media
6 Plan 'A' - Islamists Versus the Deep State
The need for counter-revolution
Egypt - back to the Brotherhood
Egypt - an uneasy alliance
Egypt - military dictatorship
Egypt - 'Sisi mania'
Egypt - the Qatar connection
Egypt - Saudi Arabia takes on the Brotherhood
Tunisia - under pressure
Tunisia - sleepwalking to counter-revolution
Yemen - outmanoeuvring the Arab Spring
Bahrain - the forgotten revolution
7 Plan 'B' - A Fake Arab Spring
Containable protests
Axis against axis - faking the Arab Spring
Libya - Gaddafi's strange regime
Libya - flirting with neo-liberalism
Libya - not so supplicant
Libya - the uprising
Libya - subverting the National Transitional Council
Libya - NATO takes action
Libya - an international crime
Libya - the scramble for assets
Libya - a role for al-Qaeda
Libya - searching for a Sisi
Syria - parallel plans
Syria - the uprising begins
Syria - preparing for intervention
Syria - enter the proxies
Syria - arming the rebels
Syria - searching for the 'red line'
Syria - back to the battlefield
Syria - the media war
Yemen - a painful intervention
Yemen - bringing back al-Qaeda
8 Enter the Islamic State - A Phantom Menace
Al-Qaeda's limits
The need for 'national jihadists'
Iraq - the incubation chamber
Iraq - the emerging Islamic State
Iraq - the proto-caliphate
The Islamic State - mysterious new leadership
The Islamic State - a persuasive ideology
Opportunities in Syria
Expansion in Iraq
The caliphate restored
The resurrection of Saddam Hussein
'Remaining and expanding' - services and recruitment
'Remaining and expanding' - masters of propaganda
9 The Islamic State - A Strategic Asset
Qui bono - to whose profit?
The manufacturing of evil - the new bogeyman
The business of evil - a history of cashing in
The business of evil - the arms industry bonanza
Surprise, surprise - the Islamic State came from nowhere
The strangest road to war
A campaign of contradictions
Explaining failure - the official line
Suspicions mount - challenging the narrative
Follow the money - the self-funding narrative
Follow the money - the Islamic State's funders
Funders need facilitators - the role of Turkey
10 The Islamic State - A Gift That Keeps Giving
The return of the 'War on Terror'
The Islamic State in Libya
The Islamic State in Yemen
The fight for Mali
Boko Haram - Nigeria under attack
Boko Haram - the shift to the Islamic State
Boko Haram - generous sponsors
Boko Haram - delivering results
Beyond Panetta - other pledges to the Islamic State
Russia and China - superpower implications
Epilogue - Keeping the Wheel Turning
Getting business back to usual
The exploitation of Egypt
Wild card number one - opening up Iran
A new Iran, a new sectarian war
Wild card number two - American oil
A new Saudi Arabia, a new chapter
Notes
Index
