Violence and Security

Violent Islamist Groups Hunkering down on the Mediterranean

December 19, 2014

The footprint of radical Islamist groups committed to violent jihad is expanding, as the war being waged by The Islamic State ("IS") in the Eastern Mediterranan or Levantine littoral has its counterpart in the failed state of Libya, where various brigades and movements sharing the IS ideology and objectives are fighting to take full control over Libya's territory.
Mideast Leaders Need to Take Ownership of Countering Violent Islamism

December 19, 2014

Some Mideast security experts are making a convincing case that the sustainable rollback of Islamic State-style violent Islamism in the region requires a policy re-set, away from Western-led strategies and toward regional ownership of the political and military responses to Islamist radicalization and violent extremism.
Pakistani Taliban Assault on School Underscores Capacity of Radical Extremists

December 17, 2014

The high number of civilian casualties resulting from the Pakistani Taliban's (“TTP”) siege at the Army Public School and Degree College in the Pakistan-Afghan border city of Peshawar has put on display the Pakistani military's failure to degrade the capacity of the militant Islamist group committed to building sharia states across South Asia.
Global Scope and Victims of Jihadi Violence Are on Upswing

December 17, 2014

The geographic sweep, number of civilian victims, financing networks, and ideological support for global jihadi groups are "increasingly ambitious, complex, sophisticated and far-reaching," according to a sobering new report by London-based think tank the International Centre for the Study of Islamic Radicalisation and Political Violence.
Global Jihadis Get Strong Support from Qatar

December 17, 2014

Policies of commission and omission by the ruling regime in Qatar have made the Gulf emirate one of the most permissive spaces for illicit financing and economic support for Islamist extremists dedicated to jihad against the U.S. and Europe, according to a comprehensive report just released by Washington-based think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Germany Developing Approaches to Combat Islamization and Jihadism

December 12, 2014

German federal and state authorities are moving to develop an integrated approach to combating the efforts and effects of Islamist radicalization in the country, including review of teacher training and curricula in public education, as well as the promotion of public awareness campaigns and hotlines to report community and internet recruitment activities.
Islamist Terror Organizations Understand the Logic of Cash Flow

December 10, 2014

There is a direct relationship between financial self-sufficiency and jihadi efficacy as practiced by The Islamic State (“IS”) in its rapid expansion in the Mideast, so that a robust model for crippling global Islamist terror groups depends on a coordinated strategy to reduce their cash flow from oil revenues, permissive Arabian Gulf financiers, and ransom monies for hostages.
Jihadis Capitalize on Kenya's Democracy Deficit and Anti-Terror Excesses

December 10, 2014

Last week's al-Shabaab execution of a group of Christian mining workers in Kenya underscored the jihadi group's continuing strategy of provoking communal war in the country and of capitalizing on the Nairobi government's democracy problems and anti-terror excesses.
Sources of Islamist Attack in Russia Remain Unclear

December 10, 2014

Responsibility for the violent attack against Russian government sites in the Chechen provincial capital of Grozny has been claimed by a local Islamist militant group, the Caucasus Emirate, but Russian security experts continue to investigate the possibility that militants loyal to The Islamic State carried out the assault.
Jihadis Make Major Move Toward Toppling Syrian Regime

December 10, 2014

Islamic State forces have laid siege to Syria's Deir Ezzor military airport, a key site whose capture by jihadis will facilitate their overthrow of the government regime in Damascus.