The Paris Attacks: A Strategic Shift by Isis?

At least 130 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded on November the 13th, 2015, in Paris as a result of the terrorist rampage by ISIS. The attack came in the context of a growing international aggression on the part of ISIS. The day before the Paris attacks, ISIS claimed credit for a twin suicide bombing in Beirut that killed at least 42 people. Two weeks before that, ISIS claimed to have downed a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on-board. ISIS has claimed the lives of more than 800 people this year outside its so-called caliphate. While the world has witnessed the strengthening of ISIS, the President had a different interpretation. On the same day, before the Paris attacks, the President said that ISIS was "contained" in Iraq and Syria. American and European intelligence officials are now saying that ISIS has dedicated cells planning more terrorist attacks overseas. It is becoming clear that ISIS is not just a regional threat in the Middle East and that its overseas campaign of terror may have only just begun.