In the rhetoric of American leaders, the Islamic State is a terrorist group. The terrorism label, while accurate, is also misleading, obscuring more than it enlightens. It is best to think of the Islamic State as an amalgam, bringing together the characteristics of many different types of actors—some legitimate, some downright evil—but with no single label doing the job, writes Dan Byman.
Click here to read the article (Brookings Markaz) 
