Al-Qaeda and ISIS have maintained closer ties for almost a decade, until Al-Qaeda leadership disowned the ISIS in February 2014. Originally ISIS operated under the banner of Al-Qaeda in Iraq; however the restrictions imposed by Al-Qaeda on its Iraq franchise led to the split within the network. Initially after the split, Al-Qaeda attempted to resolve its dispute with ISIS, however these efforts failed as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi...

ISIS is not only the world’s best-funded but also among the best armed terrorist organization. The group controls territory in Iraq and Syria and also operates in areas of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia with the aim to establish itself as a Caliphate. ISIS has been designated as a terrorist organization by many Western and Muslim countries and more than 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war...

Like all organizations, money matters to ISIS. ISIS heavily relies upon the revenue earned by oil production and criminal activities (including extortion, theft and plundering) for two main reasons: primarily to fund its soldiers (who number between 20,000 and 31,500 according to the CIA) and secondarily to act like a state and legitimize its authority in the eyes of citizens (by providing them with food, electricity and fuel). Unlike other terrorist...

Many experts on terrorism are confused and eager to solve one puzzling question: What is the real game behind ISIL and who will ultimately benefit from this new conspiracy? The second more common question asked by Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian and Pakistani experts is why most of the former “ISIS terrorists” have a background of U.S. custody or had been arrested by Allied forces and after their release have suddenly emerged as the leaders of so-called “Islamic State” or ISIL...

German author Jürgen Todenhöfer, the first Western journalist in the world to be allowed extensive access to ISIS territories in Iraq and Syria has returned from the region. He completed his dangerous tour in 10 days, claiming that it was an astonishing and eye-opening journey. The author traveled deep into ISIS territory that is now known as their Islamic caliphate. He visited Mosul in Iraq , as well as Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria. According to Todenhöfer ISIS...

The turmoil in the Middle East and Islamic World did not come from nowhere. It is in many case self-inflicted wounds which forced the masses to turn to a violent change and drawn closer to radical Islam. The region has long been portrayed by botched ideologies and the propensity to entrench political regimes through large-scale suppression of civil society, grabbing of power through corruption, nepotism and awarding the loyalists. The post-colonial Islamic World initially experienced the rise...