ISIS

Fawaz A. Gerges is professor of international relations and Emirates Professor in Contemporary Middle East Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His many books include The New Middle East, Obama and the Middle East, and The Far Enemy. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, and other publications.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Down the Rabbit Hole and into the History of ISIS 1 1 The World According to ISIS 23 2 Where ISIS Came From: Zarqawi to Baghdadi 50 3 How Broken Iraqi Politics Fueled the Revival of ISIS 98 4 Baghdadi's Evolution: From Invisible to Infamous 129 5 Baathists and ISIS Jihadists: Who Converted Whom? 144 6 How the Syrian War Empowered ISIS 170 7 Misappropriating the Arab Spring Uprisings 202 8 ISIS versus Al Qaeda: Redefi ning Jihad and the Transition from the Global to the Local 222 Conclusion: The Future of ISIS 260 Notes 295 Index 353