Analysis The Future of ISIS: Strengths and Weaknesses Dynamics of the“Virtual Caliphate” and the Gap in Counterterrorism Strategies Dr. Muhammad Abu Rumman November 2020 This article examines hypotheses regarding the fate of ISIS, based on studying and analyzing the conditions, mechanisms, and general features that characterized the organization during the preceding period. This may help frame the discussion of future scenarios and the main variables of each of them. Neither international and regional policies, nor Arab regimes, learned the lesson. They did not seek out the actual and objective causes and circumstances behind the rise of ISIS. The thinking of counterterrorism strategies and policies was only to achieve military victories and security work both on the ground and virtually. 1