Institute for the Study of War

Al Qaeda and ISIS: Existential Threats to the U.S. and Europe

The Institute for the Study of War and AEI's Critical Threats Project conducted an intensive multi-week exercise to frame, design, and evaluate potential courses of action that the United States could pursue to defeat the threat from ISIS and al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. This first report examines America’s global grand strategic objectives as they relate to ISIS and al Qaeda and considers the nature of those enemy groups in depth and in their global context.

ISIS Reasserts Global Reach for Ramadan 2019

May 1, 2019 - Brandon Wallace

ISIS’s latest global campaign began in late April 2019, two weeks before the start of Ramadan on May 5. ISIS has orchestrated an annual campaign of intensified attacks around the Islamic holy month of Ramadan since 2012.

ISIS's Expanding Campaign in Europe

Sep 18, 2017 - Jennifer Cafarella

ISIS’s attack campaign in Europe is expanding despite ISIS’s losses of terrain and senior leadership in the Middle East and North Africa. ISIS continues to plan, resource, and execute attacks from its remaining safe havens in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. ISIS has successfully expanded its coordinated attack campaign in Europe to target the UK and Spain. Rising levels of ISIS-inspired attacks in Sweden and Finland may signal growing online ISIS activity targeting vulnerable populations in those states and receptivity among those populations to the ISIS message. Coordinated attack attempts could follow.

New ISW Insight Series

Mar 16, 2017 - ISW Press

ISW's Insight Series: The Changing Geostrategic Landscape

U.S. Grand Strategy: Destroying ISIS and al Qaeda

Mar 15, 2017 - ISW Press

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute conducted an intensive multi-week planning exercise to frame, design, and evaluate potential courses of action that the United States could pursue to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) and al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria

ISIS’s Global Attack Network: November 13, 2015 – November 9, 2016

Nov 9, 2016 - Melissa Pavlik

ISIS has organized a number of external attacks worldwide in the past year, some of which have been thwarted.

ISIS's Campaign in Europe: July 16-August 18, 2016

Sep 2, 2016 - Melissa Pavlik

ISIS’s network in Europe accelerated small scale attacks in July and August 2015 as part of a deliberate transition to the next phase of its global war between Muslim and non-Muslims. The recent death of ISIS’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the primary architect of ISIS’s global campaign, will likely not suppress this terror campaign.

ISIS Regional Campaign: Ramadan 2016

Jul 13, 2016 - Caitlin Forrest

ISIS pursued its regional and global objectives through multiple large-scale attacks during its Ramadan campaign from June 5 to July 5 despite continued losses in its core terrain in Iraq and Syria. ISIS surged activity during the last week of Ramadan, including attacks in Istanbul, Baghdad, Dhaka, and across Saudi Arabia.

ISIS's Campaign in Turkey

Jun 30, 2016 - Caitlin Forrest

ISIS has two main lines of effort in Turkey. The first is to incite an ethnic war between the Kurds and the Turkish state in order to weaken its opponents in northern Syria and regain freedom of action in southern Turkey. The second is to undermine the Turkish state and punish it for being part of the anti-ISIS coalition through attacks against western targets in Turkey.

ISIS-Linked Activity in Southeast Asia: April 22 to June 23, 2016

Jun 23, 2016 - Caitlin Forrest

Four ISIS-linked Salafi-Jihadi groups in Philippines released a video on June 21, 2016 including an official logo for ISIS in Philippines, implying direct affiliation with ISIS. The four groups in the video are the Abu Khubayb Brigade, the Jundallah Battalion, the Abu Sadr Battalion, and the Abu Dujana Brigade.

ISIS Global Project