From my viewpoint, in spite of terrorist acts’ incidence, the world’s security forces are currently winning in the long-term terrorist war, whereas the terrorists are losing their positions with regard to the opportunity to intimidate the population. The opinion that counter-terrorist forces succeed means that the most influential terrorist groups lose access to resources, strategically important territories, weapons, or human resources to organize large-scale operations. Relevant evidence comes from the reviews of the global terrorist war in authoritative news sources.
ISIS, one of the world’s most numerous Islamist terrorist organizations with a well-developed vertical hierarchy of power, has recently suffered a massive failure in Syria. Specifically, in early 2019, the multinational coalition led by the U.S. engaged in an anti-ISIS air bombing campaign, resulting in the elimination of the caliphate in Baghuz, the last territory controlled by ISIS. The destruction of large physical bases cannot eliminate the network’s ability to operate but creates additional barriers to effort coordination, which is why the terrorists do not have enough resources to win, at least now.