Strategy, History, & Goals

Ends, ways, and means. Terrorist organizations are familiar with these concepts and the development of strategy too. Over the course of our history the CTC has studied and released reports and articles about terrorist goals and strategy. Browse the content below to learn more.

March 23, 2020

Broken, but Not Defeated: An Examination of State-led Operations against Islamic State Khorasan in Afghanistan and Pakistan (2015-2018)

Amira Jadoon, Andrew Mines

June 5, 2019

From Battlefront to Cyberspace: Demystifying the Islamic State’s Propaganda Machine

Asaad Almohammad, Charlie Winter

December 3, 2018

Allied and Lethal: Islamic State Khorasan’s Network and Organizational Capacity in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Amira Jadoon

August 28, 2018

Pulling Back the Curtain: An Inside Look at the Islamic State’s Media Organization

Daniel Milton

July 24, 2018

Down, but Not Out: An Updated Examination of the Islamic State’s Visual Propaganda

Daniel Milton

May 9, 2018

Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency

Jacob Zenn, Abdulbasit Kassim, Elizabeth Pearson, Atta Barkindo, Idayat Hassan, Zacharias Pieri, Omar Mahmoud

February 13, 2018

Targeted Terror: The Suicide Bombers of al-Shabaab

Jason Warner, Ellen Chapin

June 28, 2017

The Fight Goes On: The Islamic State’s Continuing Military Efforts in Liberated Cities

Daniel Milton, Muhammad al-`Ubaydi

August 1, 2016

Doku Umarov, Founder of the Caucasus Emirate: From Secularism to Jihadism (Jihadi Bios Project)

Michael Fredholm

March 1, 2015

Khattab (Jihadi Bios Project)

Muhammad al-`Ubaydi