Are we taking the ISIS threat too seriously?

ISIS is a legitimate but low risk villain. The threat from homebound terrorists is marginal, but like the yellow and red perils of the not-too-distant past, it titillates pandemic phobias about fifth columns and invading hordes.

The probability that ISIS’s caliphate will become one day a Mesopotamian superpower is statistically insignificant. Even in the odd chance that it did, it is worth remembering that it took 80 long years and numerous ideological conversions for the ragtag fighters of the Chinese Communist party to rise from the nadir of the Long March (1934) and command one of the world’s largest economies (2014).

The low risk is precisely what makes ISIS an attractive target for airstrikes. ISIS is the low-hanging fruit; the war that can be waged while the meaningful fights are dodged and serious enemies are accommodated. ISIS is the fig leaf that covers impotence.

More focus on ISIS means less focus on other foreign policy issues.