The Rise of ISIS

Nouri al Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister in 2012, was the single most important factor in driving the rise of ISIS in that year. Deeply sectarian, the Shia prime minister turned to marginalizing and intimidating the Sunni Iraqi population with the goal of ensuring the political dominance of Iraq’s Shia majority. The result of Maliki’s efforts was an Iraqi Sunni population that viewed itself as physically threatened and deeply disrespected. ISIS was able to use this Sunni disaffection with the Iraqi state to build a social base of support for a renewed insurgency and conquer significant swathes of territory in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq.