Sources for Genghis Khan:
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved:
Mongolia was split up into several different groups/tribes. Some tribes held more power than others. Temujin (Genghis Khan's birth name) was born into The Mongol tribe. They didn't really hold much power at the time. For a while, the Mongols mainly ruled eastern Mongolia but were defeated in 1161 by two rival tribes: the Tatar, and the Jin (Chin) rulers of North China. These two tribes continued to rule in peaceful co-existence for the next 20 years but the Jin rulers took them over eventually and gained control.

“Genghis Khan.” The World’s History. 2nd Edition, combined volume. 2001 Calmann & King Ltd:
His father was chief of the Mongol tribe. The Tatar tribe captured him before Temujin was in power. Three generations before Temujin, an ancestor began to try and unite the Mongols. He was successful but the unity lasted only briefly. This idea of unity eventually became Genghis' mission. He conquered all the surrounding tribes and eventually was successful at Karakorum (the capital). He had reunified the Mongols.

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/china3_f.htm.
Islam was a very popular religion among the Mongols and there was evidence of this in the number of mosques in China. The Mongols had good relations with the Islamic world beyond China also. One of the reasons for this was that they hired Islamic financial administrators. Buddhism was also popular among Mongols. There was a Tibetan form of Buddhism that was especially popular and they recruited a number of Tibetan monks to help them rule China. This helped spread Buddhism around China. There was also a form of Christianity, which the Mongols supported. Genghis Khan helped spread this eventually because his mother was of this faith. The Mongols did not support Daoism however. Daoism was in confliction with Buddhism, which sometimes resulted in battles between the two religions. The Mongols supported the Buddhists in this fight. They eventually placed political limits on Daoism, which were quite severe. This ended up in many of the monks of Daoism converting to Buddhism.

Sources for Alexander the Great:
"Alexander the Great," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2003 encarta.msn.com © 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved:
Philip II (Alexander's father) was in power before Alexander. He had made the Macedonian army the most powerful in Greece. He made many advances in the military before Alexander's rule. One of these was the great Theban phalanx. With his many different military tactics, he continued to conquer many groups/people. He set up the empire for Alexander and Alexander ended up simply finishing what his father began. Philip II persuaded the Macedonian army to declare him king.

“The Empire of Alexander the Great.” The World’s History. 2nd Edition, combined volume. 2001 Calmann & King Ltd: Once he held this position, he declared two goals: “to unify and bring peace to Greece; and to liberate the Greek city-state in Asia Minor from Persian control.” (Pg. 150, Our World’s History) Philip realized that he needed his army to achieve his goals so he established his profound technology. By doing this, he conquered a large group of Balkans. He conquered them “from the Danube to the Aegean coast and from the Adriatic to the Black sea.” (Pg. 150, Our World’s History)

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC/.
Philip used marriage and military to further himself as a king. With his military, he brought Athens, Sparta, and Thebes under Macedonian domination. The Philip's army was almost unbeatable. It was the best-led and organized military in the Greek world and plus it was supported by the populous and wealthy Macedonian state. He married often but usually for political gain. He eventually married Olympias and she became Alexander’s mother. She saw Alexander as a mystical veneration for the gods of strength and power such as Hercules and Dionysus. This is not surprising because was eccentrically religious. But Philip married again and Olympias fell into disfavor at court. This left her to raise Alexander by herself.