The bluster and self-aggrandisement of Donald Trump's announcement shouldn't obscure the fact that we have been here before, wondering if the deaths of men such as Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - who led what became Islamic State when Baghdadi was still in a US prison camp - and Anwar al-Awlaki would mark turning points in the quest to pacify the Middle East.

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Yet the truth is that in every place where jihadism has gained a territorial foothold, it was preceded by state brutality and failures of governance that led a section of the population to despair of the authorities' power to deliver safety and justice. In 2015, when forces loyal to the government were fighting IS in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, lawyer and author Zaid al-Ali told this newspaper that "without serious security sector reform and serious justice sector reform ... there is absolutely no point engaging in any of these initiatives".

Baghdadi's death will test the relationship between the group's leadership and its affiliates in other countries. However al-Qaeda, which IS broke away from in 2013 after years of disputes, may see in this moment an opportunity to regain primacy and members. And young jihadists around the world may decide that a spectacular terrorist attack is the best way to insist upon their continued relevance.

Killing leading figures within this movement - who promptly become "martyrs" to their proclaimed cause - can never give politicians the "mission accomplished" moment they are looking for. For that to happen, a broader strategic vision is required, one that guarantees the security of borders, the human rights of individual citizens and the political franchise for all communities within each nation. It calls on our strength in building relationships and giving life to institutional and ethical norms, not the ability of our special forces to seek and destroy.