(Anjarni)." During this entire period of time around the founding of the jihadist organization, ISIS worked through Syria and Northern Iraq to spread their power to as much land as possible. An article by Ira Straus suggests that United States policies in the region allowed the rise of the terrorist organization within the region, "this has provided the hothouse for the growth of the extremist Islamic State. In due course, it spilled over from Syria into Iraq, and it has issued threats against the American homeland (Straus)". The Islamic State really has begun to achieve more power through working with the small remains of Hussein's former reign over Iraq, "despite warnings, no one seems to have appreciated the dangers posed by the new alliance between ISIS, seen as a threatening but medium-sized guerrilla organization, and the Naqshabandi Army, an underground network of remnants of the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. (Spencer). Since the Arab Spring, ISIS numbers within the country of Iraq have grown at an accelerated pace due to the discontent with the state of Iraqi government. The group has grown from a guerrilla band to a national force with the help of tribe leaders in the northern part of Iraq, "local tribal leaders are also cooperating, united in their dislike of the Shia-led government in Baghdad of the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki" (Spencer). "This pattern began with the ISIS takeover of the Anbar cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in December, where they took advantage of a heavy-handed attempt by the government to quell a series of protests against it by local Sunnis. (Spencer). This cooperation between local Iraqi leaders and ISIS represent Constructivism due to their cooperation created by social interactions. Through these interactions, ISIS is trying to create a "worldwide caliphate". On June 29th, 2014, ISIS proclaimed themselves as such while appointing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the caliph, a person considered a political and religious successor to the prophet Muhammad and the leader of the entire Muslim community (Lawrence).
