Since June, the Islamic State has generated a great deal of publicity and a lot of concern among people who fear the group will attempt an attack in the United States or Europe.

As we have stated previously, we do believe that the fear of militants returning from Syria to stage attacks in the United States or Europe is a valid concern. However, the Islamic State poses only a limited threat to U.S. and European citizens. Now that the Islamic State has replaced al Qaeda as the world’s most feared terrorist group, that reality has not changed. One important reason for this is that while the Islamic State does have a great deal of experience conducting insurgent—and now regular—warfare and has conducted terrorism in its region of operations, it has not demonstrated the ability to project sophisticated terrorist capability transnationally.

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