Threats

Dunford: Time to Cut the Connections that Link ISIS’ Global Network

With the extremist group on its heels, coalition members must block its paths to Africa, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the top US officer said.

Threats

The Pentagon’s IED-Hunters Have a New Target: Drones

After a decade of ups and downs, JIDO has added the counter-UAV mission.

Ideas

The Bloody End of the Islamic State's Utopian Dream

The fall of Raqqa this week completed the slow-motion demolition of the world’s only utopian movement worthy of the name.

Ideas

The War on ISIS Held the Middle East Together

With the fall of Raqqa, the sad story will pick up exactly where it left off in 2014.

Threats

Q&A: Deputy Commander of the War on ISIS

Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Robert Sofge is helping to coordinate a two-front ground war in Iraq.

Ideas

All That Could Go Wrong When Jihadists Return Home — to China

Once separatists, now jihadists, some Uighurs returning from the ISIS battlefield could threaten — and test — Beijing.

Science & Tech

Syria is a ‘Laboratory’ for the Air War of the Future

U.S. airmen are rapidly developing and remixing new technologies and techniques in the fight against ISIS, but sometimes you can’t beat the tried and true.

Threats

‘I Want to Finish This’: US Special Ops Leaders Urge Washington to Stick by the Syrian Kurds

Commanders inside Syria say rebels are doing all they hoped for — and are the best shot to break the region's cycle of terrorism.

Threats

ISIS Says Secret Weapons Await Coalition Forces In Battle for Raqqa

The terror group makes some big claims about its homegrown arsenal in the latest issue of its online magazine.

Science & Tech

Here’s How the US Military Wants to Counter ISIS Drones and Roadside Bombs

Predictive algorithms, deep machine learning, directed energy, and more are all on the Pentagon’s shopping list.

Threats

Flow of Foreign Fighters to ISIS Stopped, Trump Tactics Working, McGurk Says

In four key areas, the Trump administration is taking the fight to ISIS in a way that Obama did not, to great effect according to the policy head who worked under both.

Ideas

The Myth of ISIS's Strategic Brilliance

The group has adapted to battlefield setbacks. But that doesn't mean it factored territorial losses into its master plan.

Ideas

The Next Battle: State Department, US Military Divided Over Kurdish Fighters In Syria (And Russia)

Frustrated sources on the ground say the State Department is struggling to get behind the Syrian Kurds and the U.S. military would struggle to proceed without them. As for Russia, well...

Ideas

Voices from the Battle for Mosul: Podcast

We spoke with current and former US military officials about how Iraq and its allies broke ISIS’s nearly 3-year grip on Iraq's second city — and what comes next.

Ideas

Mosul: What the Decade's Largest Battle Says About the Future of War

Here’s how Western-backed Iraqi soldiers helped break the Islamic State’s grip on a city of more than 1 million people — and what we can learn from it.

Ideas

How ISIS Will Go On Without Mosul

Long after the city is back in the hands of the Iraqi government, it will continue to be a prop for the Islamic State—although an altogether different one.

Threats

The Islamic State’s Caliphate Is Finished in Iraq, Abadi Says

In a symbolic victory, Iraqi security forces finally took back the ancient mosque where ISIS declared its caliphate back in 2014. Other operations throughout the country are still ongoing.

Threats

Is ISIS More Violent During Ramadan?

The group has called for increased attacks during the Islamic holy month.

Threats

The United States and Russia Are Increasingly at Odds in Syria

Amid disagreements about what might come after ISIS, Moscow says its missiles will track some US aircraft as targets.