Frankfurt School Critical Theory and Explanation of Deconstructive Moves with Reference to the ISIS Terrorism

Nowadays the world security is mostly threatened by terrorist moves rather than war among nations; moves that have resulted in a rising wave of concern in various parts of the world especially in the Middle East. So far, international relations theories have not been extensively employed as tools to analyze terrorist incidents. Among the theories of international relations, the Frankfurt School critical theory is viewed as one of the most liberating ones, seeking to offer a new definition of the world in public sphere. This article intends to answer the following question: what are the grounds for the formation of terrorist groups such as the ISIS according to the theoretical findings of the Frankfurt School concerning civil society and public sphere? Pointing to the exiled sections in the process of the domination of instrumental rationality, the Frankfurt School as a useful theoretical tool seems to see them as the major centers of deconstructing protests in the future. Thus one of the main reasons for the emergence and activities of such terrorist groups as the ISIS includes the weakness of the civil society and public sphere at the third level of analysis, i.e. the international system and its weakness at the second level of analysis namely the countries hosting the ISIS terrorism.