How Can We Fight Homegrown Terror?

Zalmay Khalilzad

Security, United States

After the Orlando attacks, the importance of domestic defenses is clearer than ever.

The Orlando shooting is unique only in the death toll it inflicted on American soil. Since the founding of the Islamic State in 2014, ISIS leaders have encouraged their followers to wage “lone wolf” attacks against targets in the United States–both civilian and military. ISIS-inspired self-starters followed suit with attacks in Chattanooga, Garland and San Bernardino. Well before today's killing, ISIS violence on the scale of the Orlando attack had become an all-too familiar scene in Europe and across the greater Middle East, where other Muslims bear the greatest brunt of this extremism.

The threat of Islamist terrorism will continue as long as the crisis of Islamic civilization remains unresolved. Globalization, refugee flows, and the spread of technology provide extremists with opportunities to spread their message and recruit supporters around the world. Alternatively, self-radicalized individuals may reach out to external groups such as ISIS for guidance and sense of belonging to an important and large group. The Orlando attack, insofar as it was homegrown yet influenced by terrorists abroad, may prove to be a harbinger of future attacks.

How should the United States confront this threat?

Internationally, the Orlando attacks call for intensified offensive to roll back ISIS and other terrorist groups mobilizing against the United States. Washington is paying the price of its hasty withdrawal from Iraq and flawed policies in Syria, which fueled the rise of ISIS. The ability of ISIS to seize the vacuum and establish a de facto state has served as an inspiration for jihadists around the world.

Specifically, we need increased military cooperation among like-minded nations to:

· Reduce ungoverned spaces that breed terrorist sanctuaries.

· Create conditions that can facilitate balanced and durable settlements in the civil wars that are fueling Islamic extremism.

· Support moderate and secular forces who can prevail and govern in the Islamic world over the long-term.

· Isolate and confront the states and non-state entities that support, provide sanctuary for terrorists and extremists and use them as instrument of policy.