Reach: ISIS has a stronghold in the town of Sirte. Strength: 5,000-6,500 fighters loyal to ISIS Names of Affiliates: Cyrenaica Province, Fezzan Province, and Tripolitania Province

The following are profiles of ISIS provinces beyond Iraq and Syria. In return, ISIS expanded its global reach and deepened its strategic resilience. The new provinces typically received training, funding, and foreign fighters, as well as a polished media presence. ISIS leadership accepted the oaths, publicly acknowledged the province, and either appointed a new leader or endorsed an existing one. Groups initially contacted ISIS leadership and presented military and organizational plans of action, then pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Rather than build new provinces from the ground up, ISIS has typically coopted existing jihadist organizations. ISIS branches in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and the North Caucasus still lacked the strength to gain or hold territory. Other affiliates, such as those in Yemen, Nigeria, and Afghanistan, posed a substantial threat to the stability of the regions in which they were located. The strongest affiliates were in Egypt and Libya. In early 2016, ISIS provinces varied greatly in power and influence. ISIS appears to model its wilayats, or provinces, on the administrative systems of the Ottoman Empire and Abbasid Dynasty, although their provinces were contiguous and shared a single government. Its expansion, beyond the so-called caliphate that covers about one-third of Iraq and one-third of Syria, presents a major challenge for international efforts to defeat the group. ISIS’s growing variety of affiliates highlights the group’s complexity and global reach. ISIS referred to its affiliates as semi-independent wilayats, or “provinces”-pockets of territory, varying in size-that expanded its geographic reach and strategic depth. By early 2016, it had formally embraced groups in eight countries that, together, have another 15,000 fighters beyond its ranks in Syria and Iraq.

Careers, Fellowships, and Internships Open/Closeĭuring its first two years, the Islamic State cultivated sympathizers from more than 40 organizations in dozens of countries.

Science and Technology Innovation Program.

The Middle East and North Africa Workforce Development Initiative.

Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.

Nuclear Proliferation International History Project.

North Korea International Documentation Project.

Environmental Change and Security Program.

Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy.

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