We cannot let our guard down against ISIS 

We have been warned: ISIS is not finished with America and the West.  

FBI director Christoper Wray has been telling us for weeks that terrorists are lurking. Last weekend, we got another reminder, when a synagogue was burned down and two Orthodox churches and a police station were attacked in Dagestan, one of the southernmost provinces in Russia. As many as 21 were killed. 

The attack in Dagestan, where most people are Sunni Muslims, is leading Russia to investigate continued turmoil in three contested areas of the former Soviet Union: Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia. With so much ethnic conflict in the world, Americans could be forgiven for not knowing much here, but pay attention: Violence is contagious. Coordinated threats and attacks on synagogues and mosques anywhere in the world should worry us.  

While most of us are preoccupied with the economy in the U.S., weather woes, immigration fears and the upcoming debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday, extremists are gaining ground overseas.  

Recent arrests in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York involving Tajik nationals came in connection with growing concerns about a potential terrorist attack. And more than 400 people connected to an “ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network” are reported to have crossed into the U.S. via our southern border. 

Terrorism should be on our minds — especially if these events prove tied to the resurgence of ISIS-K, a brutal organization with roots going back to Afghanistan. 

ISIS-K, short for ISIS-Khorosan, has been worrying officials, particularly in Europe, where international security forces have been hunting down and arresting members. The group often posts propaganda videos calling for violence, and claimed responsibility for the terrorist event in March at a music venue in Moscow that killed almost 140 people.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin, busy with his own war in Ukraine, has tried to avoid the situation. But human groups have long pointed to Putin’s heavy hand and human rights abuses as fueling the flames of conflict in the Northern Caucuses. 

One might argue there is little America can do about the situation, with a dysfunctional Congress, the war in Gaza and the continuing war in Ukraine, among other pressing matters. But ISIS is looming nonetheless. We must press our elected leaders to keep their eye on the ball. Surveillance of terrorists should be on the list of topics on Thursday night. 

Foreign policy is not usually the top issue for voters. But this year, at this moment, it should be. We ignore it at our own peril. 

Tara D. Sonenshine is a senior fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.