Loannis Mantzikos

On June 30 2014, the first day of Ramadan, ISIS declared that it was re-establishing the “Caliphate,” long an aspiration of other jihadist groups. In many ways, what the group is doing to Syria and Iraq resembles Boko Haram in Nigeria. But is it so? Despite the fact that Boko Haram voiced informal support for ISIS, in leadership terms Baghdadi comes directly from the al-Zarqawi entourage which unlike Shekau means that his relationship with al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda affiliates is rather strained.