Violence and Security

Saudi Role in Global Islamist Extremism Presents Policy Challenges for US

November 30, 2015

Western policy efforts to counter jihadi violence face serious challenges related to Saudi Arabia as an ally, given the country's commitment to spreading puritanical Wahhabi Islamism by funding global Islamist extremist ideology and terror groups, even as the royal family stays close with the United States.
Turkey Plays Both Sides in Battle with Islamist Repression and Terror

November 30, 2015

The possible fallout from Turkey's shooting down a Russian fighter jet has catalyzed a discussion in Western security circles about Turkey's ambiguous commitment to fighting Islamist extremism and violence, given Ankara's economic and military linkages to Islamic State ("IS") oil and fighters, as well as the use of Islamist arguments to justify comprehensive suspensions of domestic civil and political liberties.
Islamist Paramilitaries Take the Lead Against Turkey's Kurds

November 30, 2015

Human-rights experts and political activists are calling for inquiries into the possible Islamic State ("IS") connections of Islamist paramilitaries operating with growing violence and impunity against Turkey's Kurdish population concentrated along the country's southeastern border with Iraq and Syria.
IS Attack in Tunisia Signals Push into North Africa

November 30, 2015

The Islamic State ("IS") carried out a suicide bombing attack against a government target in Tunisia's capital, signaling growing aggression by the violent Islamist group to expand its North African footprint beyond Libya.
NATO and G20 Face Problems with Islamist Insiders

November 25, 2015

As the United States has stepped up efforts to mobilize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ("NATO") and the Group of 20 ("G20") in a multilateral strategy to combat the Islamic State ("IS"), Washington faces challenges from spoilers inside NATO and the G20, namely, the key Islamist states of Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Global Islamist Violence Pushes Western Countries to Raise Terror Warnings

November 25, 2015

The US government has issued a global travel advisory for American citizens, and Brussels remains on full lockdown, as Western countries identify a clear and present danger of violence by global Islamist groups aiming to capitalize on the recent Islamic State ("IS") terror attack in Paris.
Global-Local Approach Signals Strategic Shift for IS

November 25, 2015

The Paris attack by the Islamic State ("IS") may signal a strategic paradigm shift for the Islamist jihadi group, whereby spectacular global successes against soft targets in the West are utilized as a recruiting tool to help IS in its main objective of consolidating a localized caliphate that can expand outward from Iraq and Syria.
IS Attacks Sow Dissent Among Anti-Terror Great Powers

November 25, 2015

The pernicious effects of the recent terror attack in Paris by an Islamic State ("IS") cell include the aggravation of tensions among international Great Powers about concrete responses to the Islamist terror group, as well as the climate of fear paralyzing Europe's major cities.
Islamist Jihadi Networks Stretch from Caucasus to Near East

November 25, 2015

Russian political leaders are gravely concerned about the increasing networks of Islamist radicalization, recruitment, and violence that are active in the strategic area of the Caucasus and are directly involved on the Syrian front with the Islamic State ("IS").
UN Resolution on IS Acknowledges Threat of Global Islamist Violence

November 25, 2015

The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on countries around the world to take "all necessary measures, in compliance with international law," to combat the Islamic State ("IS"), an implicit acknowledgment by the frequently fractious UN body that extremist Islamist violence constitutes a clear and present danger to world order.