Families cross the Euphrates River seeking the relative safety of Baghdad as Islamic State fighters advance with the goal of creating such violence that people turn from the government to any force capable of restoring peace. EPA/Ahmed Jalil April 28, 2015 Islamic State theoreticians have honed plans for battle and a state Richard Rousseau, American University of Ras Al Khaimah Islamic State is a project built on solid foundations by jihadist theorists with decades of experience. The savagery of terrorism precedes the next stage of a caliphate that delivers longed-for order.