War on the Rocks 5 Questions with Ambassador James F. Jeffrey on ISIS and Iraq:

..., from Pakistan to Mali, it’s now obvious that within the Sunni Middle East when authority erodes, terrorists with an Al Qaeda philosophy will spring up and gain traction. Attempting to stem this by imposing Western institutions and ideals has failed miserably. This is a profoundly troubling phenomenon.
While I would not limit this comment to the Sunni's, it should be clear that attempting to install western democracies is not the answer.