It's interesting to see that the intervention of the U.S in Iraq was dormant until ISIS's attempt to advance into Kurdish borders. In this article, Coll blatantly suggests that Obama's main reason for swooping in on ISIS is simply for the geo political and economic interests of the U.S rather than humanitarian. Over the years, Kurdistan has generated interest globally for its abundant oil reserve, attracting many foreign investors. Perhaps the reason as to why there is a scarcity on mainstream media coverage in early times of the ISIS conflict is because it does not reflect the American government's interest. here is another article that further talks about the argument http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119035/us-attack-islamic-militants-all-about-iraqs-oil

ISIS shares many characteristics with other conflicts around the world, such as in other parts of the Middle East (e.g Syria, Palestine) , Africa , Ukraine etc. The article mentions that the fight for resources between extremely polarising groups within the countries, namely energy products such as oil and gas are a factor (and possibly at the heart) of these conflicts, as the countries rely on their export to generate revenue.