Where Will the Next Islamic State Rise? By Bobby Ghosh - Bloomberg View
Long before the last redoubt of the Islamic State collapsed in the Syrian town of Baghouz last month, the group was regressing to a conventional militant-jihadi organization, employing hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings to sow terror. No longer a “state” of any kind, it is now merely one of many terrorist organizations operating from secret, constantly changing hideouts.
It’s an ignominious end for a group that, at its peak, governed a region the size of Britain. The loss of territory will make it harder for governments and counterterrorism agencies to contain Islamic State, but equally, it will constrain the group’s ability to recruit fighters and raise money. It will now have to compete with other jihadist organizations, without the special esteem it enjoyed along with the trappings of statehood…