In The News

The Science Behind ISIS Savagery: 5 Ways Humans Become Hardwired for Violence

Ian Robertson August 20, 2014
Islamic State militants stun the world with senseless acts of violence, with the public beheading of a journalist covering civil war in Syria as the most recent example. Such atrocities are not limited to Islamic extremists and have been waged by throughout history by many other religious fanatics and even governments, reminds Ian Robertson, professor of psychology in an essay for the Telegraph....

How Obama Can Show He Is Serious About Helping Iraq

David Ignatius August 15, 2014
In striving for a caliphate, the self-declared Islamic State has managed to provide a “common adversary for Saudis and Iranians, Turks and Kurds”; “united many of Iraq’s Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish politicians behind an inclusive new government; and “ forced a reluctant President Obama to come halfway off the bench in authorizing airstrikes for ‘limited military objectives’ in Iraq,” writes David...

Saudis Have Lost the Right to Take Sunni Leadership

David Gardner August 13, 2014
Governments that secretly fund intolerant extremists to harm opponents lose credibility in the international community and with their own citizens. In a globalized world, such financing connections are transparent, and the international community must devote scarce resources to battle groups with bizarre goals, like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Such extremist groups are...

Obama Authorizes Air Strikes on ISIS to Help Iraqis Besieged on Mountain

August 8, 2014
After invading Iraq in 2003, the United States struggled to repair the bitter Shia-Sunni divide and install a system of governance more stable than that of brutal dictator Saddam Hussein. After US troops withdrew in 2011, a relatively small group of militants fighting in Syria took advantage of a power vacuum to impose what they call an Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, rapidly...

Africa’s Jihadists, On Their Way

August 1, 2014
The most extreme ideologies tap into widespread frustrations and flourish in nations and communities that fail their people with poor education and governance. The Economist interviews youths who live in Chad, a country rich in oil but inept in distributing benefits to its citizens: “Most would rather have jobs than become religious marauders, but given the chance they may be tempted to join a...

A Humanitarian Catastrophe Unfolds in Gaza

Julia Amalia Heyer July 31, 2014
The median age in the Gaza Strip is 15, notes the US Central Intelligence Agency, so more than half of Gaza’s 1.8 million people are children. More than 100,000 people have lost homes, and most struggle to escape food shortages and the constant exchange of fire between Hamas and Israel. Israelis are weary of Hamas, its rockets and refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Yet a stream of...

Malaysian Plane Downing: Will It Change Course of Ukraine Conflict?

Howard LaFranchi July 18, 2014
Ukraine and other nations are calling for an international investigation after a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane was downed in Ukraine, near the Russian border where insurgents have been fighting with support from Russia. The rebels have shot down several Ukrainian military planes in recent weeks. A separatist leader claimed responsibility early on, but backtracked after learning the target...