Violence and Security

US-Taliban Negotiations Highlight Lesser-of-Two-Evils Strategy

February 04, 2019

The advancing US-Taliban negotiations in Afghanistan for a US withdrawal in exchange for the Taliban commitment to keep out jihadist groups like the Islamic State implies a lesser-of-two-evils measure of Islamist extremist groups and will consolidate Islamist regimes in the critical region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
IS Plays Long Game in Syrian Ethno-sectarian Strife

February 04, 2019

UN experts estimate that approximately 30,000 Islamic State (IS) fighters have gone underground in Syria and Iraq, launching guerrilla terrorist attacks against US-supported coalition forces, in an effort to aggravate Kuridish-Arab-Turkish ethno-sectarian strife and chaos that will enable an IS resurgence.
Church Bombings Highlight Philippines’ Long-term Jihadist Challenge

February 04, 2019

The recent high-casualty Catholic Church bombings perpetrated by Islamic State-affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group in Mindanao reveal the Philippines state’s long-term challenges in facing a grassroots-supported movement using jihad to express political-economic grievances.
IS Carries Out Lethal Twin Bombings in Philippines Cathedral

January 30, 2019

The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for perpetrating twin explosions that killed and wounded many civilians and government soldiers at a Roman Catholic Cathedral in the southern Philippines town of Jolo, in what was likely retribution over a vote against establishing a Muslim autonomous region in that part of the island nation.
US Indicts Texas Teacher for Supporting IS

January 30, 2019

The US Department of Justice has confirmed that it has indicted a former substitute teacher from Texas captured recently in Syria for “providing himself” as material support to the Islamic State (IS).
Jihadism Remains Global Threat with Local Variation in 2019

January 30, 2019

According to the annual forecast by geopolitical intelligence group Stratfor, violent Islamism remains global, transcontinental threat in 2019, with the specifics of particular jihadist movements informed by local, grassroots circumstances.
Resilient IS Targets US Troops for Second Time in Northeast Syria

January 21, 2019

Less than a week after an Islamic State (IS) terror attack caused US casualties in Syria’s northeastern city of Manbij, IS guerrillas launched a suicide vehicle attack in the same area against a combined American and Kurdish coalition convoy.
UK Investigates Scouts Group with Ties to Islamist Extremist Leader

January 21, 2019

British police are investigating a Scouts group run from a South London mosque after media reported that the Imam at the mosque, who reportedly has links to the 1993 US World Trade Center bombing, was preaching gender segregation and female genital mutilation to the Scouts.
Bangladesh Police Arrest Islamist Ringleader of 2016 Dhaka Massacre

January 21, 2019

Police in Bangladesh have arrested the ringleader of the local Islamist extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh that perpetrated the 2016 lethal siege against a Dhaka cafe.
Islamist Extremism Shows Resilience with Lethal Attacks

January 21, 2019

The recent attacks by diverse jihadist groups in Syria and Kenya remind the international community that, from the Mideast to Africa, the resilience of Islamist extremism remains a challenge to global order and security.