Skip to Main Content

It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

Middle East Studies: The Islamic State: ISIS/ISIL

A guide to Middle East news sources, web databases, digital libraries, and research tools available at the NU Libraries

New Online Books, Articles, Videos

Isis by Fawaz A. Gerges
ISBN: 9781400880362
Publication Date: 2016-04-04
In this book, one of the world's leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light how decades of dictatorship, poverty, and rising sectarianism in the Middle East, exacerbated by foreign intervention, led to the rise and growth of ISIS.
ISIS: An introduction and guide by Brian L. Steed
ISBN: 1440849870
Publication Date: 2016-06-01
The ISIS Apocalypse by William McCants
ISBN: 9781250112644
Publication Date: 2016-08-09
Islamic State, A Brief Introduction (Brookings) by Lister, Charles
ISBN: 9780815726685
Publication Date: 2015

Enemy of My Enemy
Explores the relationship between the Iraqi Ba'ath militant group JTRN and ISIS/ISIL since the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq.
Frontline: Escaping Isis
Khalil al-Dakhi leads an underground railroad that rescues women and children who have been taken captive by ISIS. In Escaping ISIS, a hard-hitting documentary, FRONTLINE delivers a stunning look at the plight of women and children who are Yazidis, a religious minority that have been targeted by ISIS for particularly brutal treatment.
Frontline: The Rise of ISIS
Investigates the miscalculations and mistakes behind the brutal rise of ISIS.

Web Sites that Collect Information about ISIS

Carnegie Endowment for World Peace: Syria in Crisis
New, analysis, lists of personalities, links to additional resources
ISIL, Syria and Iraq Resources (West Point Combatting Terrorism Center)
Analysis, time line, Primary source interviews, and reports.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

Communications and Social Meda

Priming Strategic Communications: Countering the Appeal of ISIS
Sorenston, David. Parameters (Vol 44, no. 3, Autumn 2014).
Tweeting the Jihad: Social Media Networks of Western Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (vol. 38, no. 1, 2015)
“Flexible” capital accumulation in Islamic State social media
Richards, Imogen. Critical Studies on Terrorism (2016)

Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate by Abdel Bari Atwan
ISBN: 9780863561016
Publication Date: 2015-01-01

International Relations

Iraq, Syria, Isis and the Kurds: Geostrategic Concerns for the U.S. and Turkey
Gunter, Michael. Middle East Policy (Volume 22, no. 1) Spring 2015
ISIS is not a terrorist group; Why counterterrorism won't stop the latest jihadist threat
Cronin, A. Foreign Affairs, March-April 2016.
Revisiting Western Strategies against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
Paasche, T. and Gunter, M. Middle East Journal, Winter 2016

ISIS Operations

How ISIS Works (New York Times)
Maps, charts, names, information about military, financial and governance organization.
How the Islamic State Makes its Money (Washington Post)
Maps and a video, along with descriptions of sources of revenue.
How Saddam's Former Soldiers are Fueling the Rise of ISIS
Video from Frontline (PBS)
The Secret World of ISIS Training Camps (The Guardian)

Boston Burlington Charlotte London Nahant Portland San Francisco Seattle Silicon Valley Toronto Vancouver

Emergency Information | Privacy Policy | Accessibility | © 2022 Northeastern University