All Policy Analysis by Aaron Y. Zelin

A conversation about the current status of ISIS and al-Qaeda, including their differing strategic approaches, shifting territorial reach, and Arabic- and Twitter-focused propaganda efforts.

The wider network appears to have moved on somewhat from Zawahiri and the central leadership, hoping to carry the banner against ISIS while continuing the fight against its local and global enemies.

Over the past two years, global attention has shifted to Syria and Iraq with the rise of Jabhat al-Nusra and the return of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). However, nearly one thousand miles to the west, Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) has continued its work of facilitating

Although the regime does not publicly boast about its crimes, it is just as vicious as ISIS.

The small but growing number of Kiwis participating in the Syrian jihad holds several lessons for the New Zealand government and other jurisdictions dealing with the problem of homegrown extremists and sympathizers.

How did the so-called Islamic State (IS) originate? What are its goals? What is the scale of its recruitment in Europe and elsewhere? As the United States leads a coalition to thwart military advances by IS – also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh – Institute Richard Borow Fellow Aaron

ISIS continues to pursue its expansion model in Libya, Sinai, and other hotspots, raising new challenges that differ from those posed by al-Qaeda's past franchise approach.

While each country looks at the jihadist problem through a different lens, all are concerned and want to take an active role in combatting it.

The group's now-formalized annexation model could have direct political and security consequences in several countries, creating a more complex threat environment for the U.S.-led coalition.

A local jihadist group has claimed a Libyan city in the name of ISIS, showing how the "Islamic State" could flout traditional notions of territorial contiguity by expanding its "borders" well beyond Iraq and Syria.

Supporters of ISIS and other global jihadist organizations were among those killed in the latest Gaza conflict, raising questions about the extent to which these groups are entrenching themselves in the area.