Violence and Security

IS Attack on Russian Plane Signals Significant Tactical Shift in Expanding Caliphate

November 05, 2015

If Western intelligence confirms that the Islamic State ("IS") perpetrated the lethal attack this past weekend against a Russian passenger flight over the Egyptian Sinai, this may signal a significant tactical shift in IS's fight to globalize its Islamic caliphate, by combining the armed struggle for territorial expansion with an escalation in generalized terror strikes against anti-caliphate civilian assets.
Defeat of IS Requires Long View Beyond Military Solution

November 03, 2015

Some conflict resolution experts propose that the defeat of the Islamic State ("IS") in its core territories of Iraq and Syria will require long-term development policy support from the West, particularly on issues of inclusive governance, infrastructural recovery, and local tribal communication networks, in order to avoid the conditions that have been hospitable to the rise of IS.
Al-Shabaab Attack Reminds East Africa of Jihadi Resilience

November 03, 2015

Al-Shabaab's latest lethal terror attack in Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu is a reminder of the resilience of the jihadi group, which aims to impose sharia law throughout Somalia and East Africa.
Islamist Extremist Threats Dominate Gulf Security Summit

November 03, 2015

The destabilizing security threats from the spread of Islamic State ("IS") control and the expansion of Iranian influence dominated discussions at the annual Manama Dialogue Security Conference in Bahrain sponsored by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Turkey's Upcoming Elections Will Be Shaped by Bargain with IS

October 28, 2015

Turkey's approaching national elections are being shaped by the Islamist government's support for the Islamic State ("IS"), which has generated severe social cleavages over IS suicide bombings inside Turkey, state clampdowns on media freedoms, and the government's air campaign against the country's Kurdish population.
Islamic State Expands in Syria as Internationals Remain Disunited

October 27, 2015

The Islamic State ("IS") continues its territorial onslaught in Syria, enabled by Western Powers' indecisiveness, Russian and Iranian unilateralism, and Turkish perfidy.
Carter Plan Says Defeat of Islamic State Depends on Agreement over Assad's Role

October 27, 2015

A proposal by former US President Jimmy Carter for ending the war in Syria argues that the defeat of the Islamic State ("IS") is absolutely contingent upon consensus among the five key peace-broker nations (the US, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey) on a transitional role for Bashar al-Assad.
Global Jihad Comes to Bangladesh

October 27, 2015

The Islamic State ("IS") claimed responsibility for a deadly sectarian attack on a Shiite religious procession in Dhaka, the most recent of a spate of lethal episodes signaling that jihadi Islamists are expanding their global theater of operations in South Asia.
German Trial of Church Thieves Ties Criminal Gangs to IS Networks in Europe

October 27, 2015

The court trial of criminals charged with looting cash and religious artifacts from churches in Cologne, Germany, to raise monies for the Islamic State ("IS") has exposed also the gang as a conduit for recruiting Europeans to become jihadis in Syria.
Islamist Militias Form United Front Near Damascus to Defeat "Crusaders"

October 27, 2015

A coalition of Islamist extremist militias is consolidating around Damascus in an effort to form a united front to capture the Syrian capital and to defeat "the Crusaders and Russians" waging war on "Muslim lands."