The Last ISIS Stronghold: Baghouz

A flag of Islamic State militants is pictured above a destroyed house near the Clock Square in Raqqa. 

(photo credit: ERIC DE CASTRO/ REUTERS)

I believe ever since Raqqa, Iraq was liberated from ISIS in 2017 by the U.S. led coalition, ISIS has been in a massively weakened state leaving it more feeble at every stronghold across borders.
Unfortunately, their presence is still maintained across a crescent-shaped enclave stretching from Mauritania to Algeria just beneath the Sahara Desert. Boko Haram is still terrorizing areas and has been most recently attributed to the deaths of 32 Christians in Yola, Nigeria.
Then when Ghouta was attacked again in 2018 with yet another instance of Assad being an immoral warmonger and gassing his own people, it was very possible a resurgence would arise from ISIS enclaves near Damascus, the hardest of their territories to reach.
But slowly, even with sparse retaliations like the Manbij attack which killed 5 Americans and I myself wrote in direct criticism of Donald Trump, he has stuck to word when he said he would eliminate ISIS. No more of the phony safe-zones or relentless airstrikes or ISIS criminals stealing and attaining U.S. military weaponry under the Obama administration. He's made me eat my words. He isn't completely redeemed, however. The dropping of the MOAB over Afghanistan was still morally questionable, the bombing of the wrong mosque in an Iraqi safe-zone was still a mistake on Trump's part, and entire premise between him and Erdogan failing to compromise are anything tarnished some of his plans, he's steady been taking the right steps towards re-stabilizing the Middle East.
Under his administration, the U.S. Congress has voted out of involvement in the Yemeni crisis, eliminated the threat of ISIS from all major strongholds, cycled through the Israeli-Palestinian war, and assisted in ending the mass migration of Muslims from war-torn areas to avoid the risk of terrorism spreading.

• Smoke from an air strike rises over buildings near the frontline on February 10th, 2019, in Baghouz, Syria
• Chris McGrath / Getty via The Atlantic

In the instance of Baghouz, it is both physically and symbolically the end of ISIS's attempt at a 21st century caliphate and the end of the U.S.'s 5-year campaign in the Middle East.
This restabilizes the Middle East in many ways as now the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Iraqi-Kurdistan, and Saudi Arabia can re-direct their attention to the Syrian Civil war, the Houthi regime in Yemen, and ongoing Israeli-Palestinian struggles that have displaced thousands.
The issue of the Kurdistan referendum can be addressed, Iran's position in all of this, the Hezbollah, everything that was put on halt because of the haphazard threat of ISIS can finally resurface. A possible end to worldwide terrorism is at stake here in Baghouz.
Over the past 5 or so years of its existence, ISIS has been linked to the deaths of nearly 33,000 people across the world. It's existence prolonged the Syrian Civil War - still deemed the bloodiest event of the 21st century. But peace talks are in the making. 2018 brought us a very close possibility to seeing the end of the war with Assad still on top - that was, of course, before Ghouta happened...
Since then, a few other incidents have occurred regarding Manbij and now Baghouz, but with this breakthrough against ISIS, it's possible that war may end soon, and American, Russian, and Turkish soldiers can finally be brought home. Of course, the issue with the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey remains, along with the power struggle between Iran and the Saudis, the Houthi regime, the Hezbollah in Lebanon, it's very safe to assume that the Arab League will still have its hands full by the time this war ends.
Also, let it be clear that ISIS has not been annihilated after Baghouz. Remnants still remained scattered across the region, but fortunately, as far as land, strongholds, and weaponry, they seem to be all but finished.
However, if these events happen, I do believe it signals the end of a small era in history that will be looked back upon. The 2010s was a decade born from the rise of 2000s terrorism and the internet reaching new peaks. Because of that, the new decade to come is anyone's game. On a global scale we face the deterioration of the EU and the further expansion of influence with the Russian Federation. The U.S.'s change of leadership after Donald Trump will also repaint the map the history. But stopping terrorism seems to be the primary goal, for once that ends, both the Africa and the Middle East will be stabilized again and participate in the other issues we face as a planet, being the issue of a dying earth, lack of resources, and technological innovation - noble pursuits that have been hindered by the distraction of terrorism and immigration.

Sources
The Jerusalem Post
Vox
The Atlantic
The NY Times