This is a map of attacks either directly carried out by the Islamic State or inspired by their message. The map does not take into account attacks in Syria and Iraq, as that is core Islamic State territory and strikes there are directly linked to IS’ goal of maintaining territorial control of its caliphate. The goal of this map is to show the global reach of IS ideology and activities.
IS has either directed or inspired attacks on every major continent except South America, and South America’s exceptional status is not for lack of trying. IS has targeted majority Muslim nations from Tunisia to Indonesia. It has targeted Western nations from the United States to Australia. There are roughly 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. Islamic State, however falsely, purports to speak for them all. Its ambitions are global.
The Islamic State’s center of gravity is the small state it has carved out in what used to be Syria and Iraq. If you are a regular reader of Geopolitical Futures, you know that we have a very sober view of just how strong IS is in its core territory, and we expect that it will be much more difficult to take it away than the U.S. and its allies indicate.
The deeper point, however, is that even if the necessary political will and military resources are put into destroying what IS has built in Raqqa (the U.S. announced this week that it is adding another small infusion of troops into Iraq), it will not solve the problem. The most potent thing about the Islamic State is that it is not just a physical entity, but an idea, one that has spread far beyond the confines of the Syrian and Iraqi deserts. You cannot carpet bomb an idea.
We are not policy advocates, and we don’t claim to know the solution. We are in the business of telling the world how things are. And that’s what this map does. It gives you a sense of the scope of the fight IS is bringing to the world.
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