Okay, and why is Islamic extremism taking root and spreading?<p>It&#x27;s like a body, you&#x27;ve got loads of bacteria all over your body, including some nasty MRSA stuff on your skin. This isn&#x27;t normally a problem. But sometimes something can trigger a situation where the bad bacteria can spread and literally eat your body.<p>ISIS would be a footnote in an odd corner of the world if it weren&#x27;t for favorable conditions for them to flourish.<p>This very much includes Islamic extremism as their call to legitimacy as a caliphate resonates with far too many.<p>It is absolutely not a red herring to point to the root conditions for ISIS success. It&#x27;s incorrect if one thinks it&#x27;s ONLY income inequality, compared to an interplay of conditions (Iraq destabilization, income inequality, Islamic extremism, and geopolitical machinations providing a destabilized Syria amongst them).