Can ISIS Overcome the Insurgency Resource Curse?

Jul 15, 2014 | The Washington Post
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The recent advances of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), since redubbed Islamic State, in northern and western Iraq brought into focus the profound ideological and sectarian cleavages that drive the conflicts in both Iraq and Syria. But there is more to the story than a puritanical Sunni rebel movement seeking to unseat Shiite apostate rulers and revive the caliphate in the Middle East. IS  is also gaining momentum in the struggle to control two natural resources that have defined the history of the Middle East – oil and water.