In The News

Why Do Terrorists Blow Themselves Up?

Riaz Hassan September 9, 2010
Nine years after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the world shares a perception that suicide attacks are unusual acts committed by the poor, the psychologically impaired, the morally deficient, the uneducated or the religious fanatics. Yet analysis of more than 1500 suicide attacks between 1981 and 2008 by author Riaz Hassan reveals far more complex motivations...

Petraeus Condemns US Church's Plan to Burn Korans

Julian E. Barnes, Matthew Rosenberg September 7, 2010
If one needed an example of the world’s interconnectedness and the internet’s ability to empower individuals, the story of a tiny church in Florida will do. The church’s plans to burn Korans on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks captured the world’s attention and, most surprisingly, that of the US commander of international forces in Afghanistan. US military leaders typically refrain...

Manhattan Project: The Great Mosque Divide

Sadanand Dhume August 24, 2010
A proposal to build an Islamic center two blocks away from the target of the 9/11 attacks steadily moved through New York City’s planning process, meeting regulations and winning approval each step of the way. The World Trade Center attacks united the United States for a short while, whereas almost nine years later, the center and plan to “build bridges” raise another in a long line of issues...

Will US Patience Bring Success in Afghanistan and Iran?

David Ignatius August 23, 2010
Some foreign policy knots untangle on their own over time while others require immediate tugging. Discerning which is which has been a problem for the US, suggests David Ignatius in an opinion essay for the Daily Star. “Patience plus” in the globe’s trouble spots, he explains, requires immediate, widespread, active diplomacy. Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, scheduled for...

As Some Young Muslims Turn to Radicalism, Concern Grows

Souad Mekhennet August 10, 2010
Muslim parents in Germany are increasingly alarmed over online recruitment efforts by extremists with German-language videos. German security officials estimate that, since the 1990s, fewer than 200 young Germans have traveled to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region to join groups affiliated with Al Qaeda or the Taliban, according to a report by Souad Mekhennet for the New York Times. With...

Gaza: The Silver Lining?

Gustav Ranis August 5, 2010
The Israeli-Palestinian divide is so deep and the world has so many pressing economic and security challenges, it’s no surprise that many foreign-policy experts put the Middle East low on any US priority list. But the longstanding plight of millions of Palestinians in the occupied zones reverberates and captures attention far beyond the region, explains Yale professor Gustav Ranis. Organizing aid...

The Whistleblowers: Is WikiLeaks a Blessing or Curse for Democracy?

John Goetz, Marcel Rosenbach July 29, 2010
Wikileaks posted more than 91,000 internal US military documents online – unleashing debate about an unpopular war, secrecy and media, technology, whistle-blowing, and whether the release is courageous exposure or a dire security threat. WikiLeaks.org publishes leaked documents deemed secret by companies and governments. Documents titled the Afghan War Diary are archived into 100 categories as...