Sydney Shooting: ISIS Still Inspires Violence Globally

• The Sydney shooting, linked to Islamic State ideology, highlights the group's continued power to inspire individual acts of violence, not complex plots.
• Islamic State, though territorially weakened, now operates as a propaganda machine, urging supporters to commit attacks locally with readily available means.
• Lone-actor or small-cell attacks are difficult to prevent due to minimal intelligence trails and rapid online radicalization.
• IS exploits global flashpoints like the Israel-Gaza war and targets with symbolic weight to fuel its extremist narratives.
• Despite losing territory, IS maintains a global presence through affiliates, reinforcing its movement and inspiring copycat attacks.

Why It Matters: ISIS's ideology persists, inspiring individual violence even without territory, posing a complex counterterrorism challenge.