What’s Next For Islamic State?

In 2014, the Islamic State (IS) extremist group emerged as one of the most powerful jihadi groups, rivaling even Al-Qaeda.

The extremist Sunni group now controls vast swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq and boasts thousands of fighters — including many from Western Europe. An anti-IS coalition led by the United States has mobilized more than 60 countries, including several Arab states, against the group.

Yet after months of air strikes, IS militants are still threatening to take over even more territory and are continuing to attract foreign fighters and execute Western, Syrian, and Iraqi hostages.

While the chaotic and rapidly changing situation on the ground in Syria and Iraq makes it very hard to predict what will happen in the coming months, RFE/RL asked a number of analysts and experts to evaluate what might we expect to see from IS as we move into 2015.

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IS training facilities will continue to spread

IS will keep on expanding its archipelago of training camps in Syria and Iraq, amid ramped up efforts to train the influx of recruits and existing fighters in those countries.

The U.S.-led coalition is likely to take steps to slow these efforts down.

The Long War Journal's Weiss, who together with his colleague Bill Roggio has mapped 25 IS training camps across Syria and Iraq, says that coalition air strikes against these camps “might help cut down on [IS] recruitment and potentially [its] effectiveness.”

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