Aaron Zelin’s article Al-Qaeda in Syria: A Closer Look at ISIS Part One and Two gives in-depth information about al-Zarqawi’s connection to al-Qaeda and the eventual creation of ISIS. Zelin claims that in 2005, Zarqawi was sent two letters from the deputy head of al- Qaeda Central in Pakistan informing him that he needed to tone down his violent tactics, as they felt that they were hurting the long-term goals of jihadists, and they correctly predicted that this would alienate the Sunnis. What followed this prediction was al-Qaeda losing support. Due to this loss of support, al-Qaeda in Iraq renamed itself the Islamic state of Iraq in 2006. Zelin notes that after Zaraqawi was killed by a US airstrike, Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani would be named leader of the group, and it would be him how would declare group to be named ISIS. …show more content…
Berger’s ISIS: The State of Terror (2015). This book focuses on the self proclaimed Islamic State, their sophisticated use of social media, their attraction to foreign fighters, and their speed of advancement into territories. Not only is their book very recently published, which makes it highly relevant to this dissertation, but Stern and Berger have were able to create a concise timeline of ISIS’s evolution in the Middle East, whilst providing insight into the social mentality of people in the region at the time. When discussing the possible reason of how ISIS could have gained popularity and support so quickly, the authors cite the invasion in Iraq,