Is Islam, in fact, "exceptional" in how it relates to politics? Shadi Hamid argues for a new understanding of how Islam and Islamism shape politics by examining different models of reckoning with the problem of religion and state, including the terrifying—and alarmingly successful—example of ISIS. With unprecedented access to Islamist activists and leaders across the region, the Brookings Institute senior fellow and author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World offers a panoramic and ambitious interpretation of the region's descent into violence. (Book signing to follow.)