Home Introduction: Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISIS
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Introduction: Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISIS

View more publications by Princeton University Press
To Publisher Page
ISIS
This chapter is in the book ISIS
Introduction:Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISISFollowing a rapid rise and concomitant territorial conquests, the so- called Islamic State, also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and wa- Sham or Le-vant), or by its Arabic abbreviation, Da’esh, has for now, by de-fault, taken operational command and leadership of the global jihadist movement, eclipsing Al Qaeda Central (AQC), which attacked the US homeland on September 11, 2001. At the time of writing, ISIS controls a wide swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, as large as the United Kingdom, with a population esti-mated at roughly between six million and nine million people. Additionally, ISIS controls a sectarian army numbering more than thirty thousand combatants, in part through an amalgama-tion of local armed insurgencies in Iraq and Syria and foreign recruits.ISIS’s military surge in Syria and Iraq in 2013 and 2014 was a rude awakening for regional and global powers. Despite being trained by the United States and costing anywhere be-tween $8 billion and $25 billion,1 the Iraqi security forces were
© 2016 Princeton University Press, Princeton

Introduction:Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISISFollowing a rapid rise and concomitant territorial conquests, the so- called Islamic State, also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and wa- Sham or Le-vant), or by its Arabic abbreviation, Da’esh, has for now, by de-fault, taken operational command and leadership of the global jihadist movement, eclipsing Al Qaeda Central (AQC), which attacked the US homeland on September 11, 2001. At the time of writing, ISIS controls a wide swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, as large as the United Kingdom, with a population esti-mated at roughly between six million and nine million people. Additionally, ISIS controls a sectarian army numbering more than thirty thousand combatants, in part through an amalgama-tion of local armed insurgencies in Iraq and Syria and foreign recruits.ISIS’s military surge in Syria and Iraq in 2013 and 2014 was a rude awakening for regional and global powers. Despite being trained by the United States and costing anywhere be-tween $8 billion and $25 billion,1 the Iraqi security forces were
© 2016 Princeton University Press, Princeton

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Introduction: Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISIS 1
  5. 1. The World According to ISIS 23
  6. 2. Where ISIS Came From: Zarqawi to Baghdadi 50
  7. 3. How Broken Iraqi Politics Fueled the Revival of ISIS 98
  8. 4. Baghdadi’s Evolution: From Invisible to Infamous 129
  9. 5. Baathists and ISIS Jihadists: Who Converted Whom? 144
  10. 6. How the Syrian War Empowered ISIS 170
  11. 7. Misappropriating the Arab Spring Uprisings 202
  12. 8. ISIS versus Al Qaeda: Redefining Jihad and the Transition from the Global to the Local 222
  13. Conclusion: The Future of ISIS 260
  14. Notes 295
  15. Index 353
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400880362-002

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents vii
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Introduction: Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISIS 1
  5. 1. The World According to ISIS 23
  6. 2. Where ISIS Came From: Zarqawi to Baghdadi 50
  7. 3. How Broken Iraqi Politics Fueled the Revival of ISIS 98
  8. 4. Baghdadi’s Evolution: From Invisible to Infamous 129
  9. 5. Baathists and ISIS Jihadists: Who Converted Whom? 144
  10. 6. How the Syrian War Empowered ISIS 170
  11. 7. Misappropriating the Arab Spring Uprisings 202
  12. 8. ISIS versus Al Qaeda: Redefining Jihad and the Transition from the Global to the Local 222
  13. Conclusion: The Future of ISIS 260
  14. Notes 295
  15. Index 353
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 14.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400880362-002/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOooCIo8Bek3zzpIbohms8WGpZ1yBAEYpSqONKA21GHMbFEui2J_9
Scroll to top button