Hot Topics: Terrorism in the Middle East: Terrorist Groups

al-Qaeda

al-Qaeda - Council on Foreign Relations

al-Qaeda Core: a short history - Foreign Policy

al-Qaeda's Latest Rebranding - Wilson Center

al-Qaeda Organization & the Islamic State Organization - Strategic Studies Institute

Persistent Threat: The Evolution of Al Qa'ida & Other Salafi Jihadists - RAND

ISIS or ISIL

History of ISIS - International Business Times

ISIS Fast Facts - CNN

Timeline: Rise & Spread of the Islamic State - Wilson Center

Who, what and where is ISIL? Explaining the Islamic State -  Aljazeera

IS

Islamic State - Council on Foreign Relations

Islamic State - RAND 

Islamic State: Mapping Militant Organizations - Stanford University

What is 'Islamic State'? - BBC

Kurds

Kurdish People: Fast Facts - CNN

Time of the Kurds - Council on Foreign Relations

Who are the Kurds? -  BBC 

Who are the Kurds? - Aljazeera

Comparing Al Qaeda and ISIS: Different goals, different targets - Brookings

ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, Daesh : What's the Difference? -  International Business Times

ISIS, ISIL, or Islamic State: What's in a Name? - NPR

ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic State - CNN

al-Qaeda - a radical Islamist terrorist group whose origins stem from the Soviet war in Afghanistan

ISIS and ISIL - ISIS and ISIL are the same group translated slightly differently (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), ISIS is a radical Islamist terrorist group that splintered from al-Qaeda and is based in Syria

IS - (Islamic State) a radical Islamist terrorist group formed from ISIS/ISIL but broadening its geographic area worldwide, claims authority over all jihadist groups