Archived Great Discussion Series

A historical timeline on ISIS

A history of ISIS and how it came to be

Britannica covers the establishment and expansion of ISIL (also known as ISIS).

More formidable than its al-Qaeda precursors in the view of many experts, the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) is more than a network of terrorist cells or even a militia: it’s almost a nation.

Nearly all of the men implicated in last week's attack in Brussels and the November rampage in Paris have something in common – they are ex-convicts.

A collection of articles related to ISIL

ISIS is our monster. Our government picked the winners in Iraq, and our push for the 2005 national elections hastened the civil war from which ISIS grew.

A collection of commentary and archival articles pertaining to ISIS

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.

President Barack Obama's televised address on ISIS on Sunday night was meant to calm the public's escalating fears of terrorism, to chide 2016 candidates about explosive rhetoric over waging war and the place of Muslims in society and to defend his own efforts to combat the extremist group.

FRONTLINE investigates the miscalculations and mistakes behind the brutal rise of ISIS. Correspondent Martin Smith (Truth, War & Consequences; Beyond Baghdad; Private Warriors, Gangs of Iraq) reports from Iraq on how the country began coming undone after the American withdrawal and what it means for the U.S. to be fighting there again.

The Islamic State has been viewed, variously, as a collection of nihilistic psychopaths and as a direct descendant of Al Qaeda that shares the parent organization's strategy and goals. Scrutiny of the group's statements, as well as conversations with its overseas supporters, suggest both impressions are dangerously misleading. The group's ideology suggests avenues for defeat, and cautious optimism for a strategy of containment. In his current Atlantic essay “What ISIS Really Wants,” Graeme Wood explores these facets of ISIS, the forces arrayed against it, and offers insights into today’s foremost security challenge for the Middle East and the United States. Please join author Graeme Wood and CSIS’ Tom Sanderson for an eye-opening TNT Terrorism Roundtable.

The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group has announced its intention to reestablish the caliphate and has declared its leader, the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the caliph. The lightning advances the Islamic State made across Syria and Iraq in June shocked the world. But it's not just the group's military victories that have garnered attention — it's also the pace with which its members have begun to carve out a viable state. Flush with cash and US weapons seized during its advances in Iraq, the Islamic State's expansion shows no sign of slowing down. In the first week of August alone, Islamic State fighters have taken over new areas in northern Iraq, encroaching on Kurdish territory and sending Christians and other minorities fleeing as reports of massacres emerged. VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks embedded with the Islamic State, gaining unprecedented access to the group in Iraq and Syria as the first and only journalist to document its inner workings.

On September 22, William McCants discussed ISIS’ strategy and the future of jihadi terrorism. NPR Counterterrorism Correspondent Dina Temple-Raston moderated the discussion.

The Islamic State's (ISIS) history traces back to the early days of the Iraq War - founded under another name by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.