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Middle East Complexities: Culture and Conflict

Use this guide to find and evaluate information and resources related to Middle East complexities. 

ISIS / Islamic State

The group that named itself “the Islamic State” has existed under various names and in various shapes since the early 1990s. Intense turmoil in Syria and Iraq has created socio-political vacuums in which jihadi groups have been able to thrive. The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) had proven to be the strongest and most dynamic of these groups, seizing large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. Shortly after routing Iraqi forces and conquering Mosul in June 2014, ISIS boldly announced the establishment of a caliphate and renamed itself the Islamic State (IS). 

The Origins of ISIS (Islamic State)

Published on Nov 17, 2014 by the Brookings Institution. Longtime CIA veteran and counterterrorism expert Bruce Riedel details the origins and history of ISIS and how the extremist group's self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came to power.

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