The ISIS has managed to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time. They control an area the size of Great Britain and have seized cities, oil fields, and major transit routes in both Iraq and Syria in the last six months.

ISIS (the islamic state in Iraq and Levant-al Sham in Arabic) is a Sunni jihadist militant group led by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the name adopted by Awwad Ibrahim Al-Badri Al-Sawarri. [1] The group originated from the Al-Qaida group in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). They then proceeded as a rebel faction fighting against Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria but have since spread into Iraq claiming large swathes of territory stretching from Aleppo to Mosul. [1]

In June of 2014, ISIS announced that it had established a caliphate in the region governed by Sharia law. [1] The group believes that the world’s global population of Muslims should be governed by one islamic law and live under one Islamic state.

The group’s success has pegged largely on its wealth. They are now the world’s richest terrorist group with a war-chest valued at 2 billion dollars. The money has come from extortion, smuggling, and private donations. Wealthy donors from Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have sent millions of dollars to the group. Nouri Al Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister has publicly chastised these nations for supporting the terror group. [2]

An additional factor in the rise and success of ISIS has been their well executed psychological strategy. The term itself “IS” (Islamic state) touches on a silent dream of every Islamist- to see a single state for Sunni Muslims.

Their notably brilliant use of social media has been instrumental in both recruiting fighters and spreading fear and panic. ISIS has used existing stereotypical imagery of Muslim terrorists to quickly establish their identity. On twitter, they have employed the use of hashtags to ensure that they keep trending. In addition, they have developed a cheap mobile app knowns as “Diaspora” that posts their messages on multiple websites. In February 2014, the group had more than 10,000 mentions per day on Twitter. [3] The posting of graphic images and videos such as beheadings and other violent executions have gone a long way in cementing their status as a serious terrorist force.

ISIS has been able to surpass long-standing terror groups such as Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Al Shabab in a relatively short time period. The group’s deep pockets and intelligent use of several media platforms has been particularly potent.

For further information on ISIS:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-isis-sows-global-panic-and-other-facts-about-the-jihadist-group-1.2754524 [1]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/isis-islamic-state-iraq-levant-q-and-a [2]

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/13888/20140826/isis-turns-to-diaspora-after-getting-booted-by-twitter.htm [3]