The jihadist group ISIS has swept through Syria and Iraq at an alarming rate since splitting ties with terrorist organization al-Qaeda in February. The Islamic State, as the group declared itself in June, shows no sign of stopping their religious and territorial takeover thanks to healthy recruitment at home and abroad.
Reports estimate ISIS has anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria. Young Sunni-Arab men make up the majority of its ranks, but the group also boasts a growing foreign contingent. Fighters from at least 81 countries have taken up arms for the terrorist cell, according to Frontline. Western countries represented include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
ISIS has used its impressive social media presence and YouTube videos to recruit at home and abroad. The group epitomizes the ultimate jihadist experience, according to John Horgan, a psychologist at University of Massachusetts-Lowell who specializes in terrorism.
"ISIS truly is something different," Horgan told Science of Us. "It holds very, very broad appeal to both converts and natural-born Muslims alike. In the eyes of potential recruits, this is fantasy made reality. It's everything that a would-be jihadist could have hoped for."
The fantasy has become a brutal takeover of land that has left thousands of civilians dead, wounded or displaced. The Islamic State had seized at least 13,000 square miles of land between Syria and Iraq as of Aug. 11, and Iraq saw its deadliest month in June since May 2007, according to the Huffington Post.
Bottom line: ISIS gets things done faster than other terrorist groups, who may wait years before accomplishing "anything significant," according to Horgan.
"They've demonstrated results. They're capturing cities, they're flaunting weaponry. They're creating a safe haven, or refuge, where they can live," he said. "It allows ISIS to say, 'Look, we're the real deal.'"
The jihadists also give their new recruits "cars to drive, guns, cell phones and cash money," a Mosul man, who has direct knowledge of ISIS recruit efforts, told CNN.
Only disillusionment can slow down the group's efforts now, according to Horgan. ISIS will need to keep its members from walking away or reflecting poorly on the group's activities.
"Right now, though, I'm not seeing anything to counter the quite powerful messages that this group is putting out," Horgan said. "This is not your grandfather's terrorist propanganda."
