Once again, the world faces the threat of an Islamic militant group known as ISIS. This year the group has been carrying out and inspiring countless terror attacks throughout the world in order to spread their Salafist ideology and establish a caliphate. ISIS seeks to conquer all territories in the world using militancy and terrorism.

ISIS combats modern nation states to create a radicalized Islamic theocracy, under Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The group has already made significant gains in territory by annexing land in turbulent nations like Syria and Iraq (most notable being Raqqa and Mosul respectively.) They continue to gain influence and recognition by successfully recruiting youth through propaganda on social media and coercion in the form of terrorism.

Their most prominent terrorist act of this year occurred very recently, on Nov. 13-14

2015, when seven gunmen took to the streets and popular locations in Paris and began shooting civilians. One hundred twenty -nine individuals lost their lives in the attack while many others were injured. Many other attacks which can be linked back to ISIS, include a suicide bombing that targeted a peace rally in Turkey (October 10) and a suicide bombing two Shi’a mosques in Yemen (March 20).

The most recent ISIS associated attack occurred on US soil, when a couple attacked a ballroom party in San Bernardino, California (December 2). The couple allegedly pledged allegiance to Al-Baghdadi during the shooting, and the perpetrators were later killed when engaged by police.

The main motives for these attacks is to spread fear to opponents while gain recognition in order to recruit more members. NATO, Russia and many Middle Eastern nations are actively launching counter attacks against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.