In The News

Fewer Guns, Fewer Deaths: An Idea Everyone But the US Seems to Agree With

Iain Overton June 15, 2016
Most of the world is appalled that the United States resists pursuing what the president calls “common sense” regulations to curb mass shootings, explains Iain Overton of Action on Armed Violence for the Globe and Mail. A mass shooting in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub left 49 dead, and the suspect is reported to have scouted Disney World as a target. Most US voters and even gun owners support...

Official Religious Orthodoxy Driving Malaysia to Extremes

The Asia Sentinel, June 2, 2016
Malaysia has been credited for moderation and quick response on any connected with the Islamic State or Al Qaeda, “Yet even some Islamic scholars are now accusing the government itself of fostering extremism through official actions,” notes the Asia Sentinel. Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but Islam is the nation’s official religion. Salafist preachers dispatched and...

US Airstrike Against Taliban Leader Crossed a Pakistani “Red Line”

Tim Craig and Greg Miller May 25, 2016
US President Barack Obama ordered a drone strike that killed Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in Baluchistan – defying Pakistan’s request to limit such strikes to the northwestern tribal belt. Afghan leaders are frustrated by terrorists waging attacks against their country, then crossing the border for shelter in Pakistan. “Now, some Pakistani leaders are rattled, saying they fear the...

Bangladesh Accommodates Extremism, Spelling Danger for the Region

Sumit Ganguly May 17, 2016
The Islamic State extremists have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Bangladesh on journalists, educators, atheists and religious minorities. Unfortunately, “the present regime, in denial about religious extremism, finds this trend to be politically expedient,” writes Sumit Ganguly, a professor at Indiana University and also a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute...

Moderate Syrian Rebels Torn Between Giving Up, Joining Islamic Extremists

Sam Dagher May 6, 2016
The Syrian civil war has raged for more than five years, a long time in a nation where half the people are under the age of 24. Intervention from Russia in recent months has given the Assad regime the upper hand. Assad troops are closing in on moderate Syrian rebels who are forced to decide: surrender and hope to settle with a brutal and corrupt government, team up with extremists, or somehow...

What You Need to Know About Growing Extremist Violence in Bangladesh

Nikhil Kumar and Rishi Iyengar April 29, 2016
Islamic extremists are targeting and killing bloggers, foreigners, atheists and gay-rights activists in Bangladesh. The country of 156 million people, poor and densely populated, has been profiled as a potential battle zone by an Islamic State magazine. Advocates for secularism expect the government to crack down on the violent extremists: “While condemning the blogger killings and promising...

After Chibok, Another Kidnapping Met With Silence

Aminu Abubakar and Robyn Dixon April 13, 2016
Nigerian authorities and the world may have lost a sense of urgency about Boko Haram’s brazen attacks on small villages and mass kidnappings. A UNICEF report points out that girls are regarded as sex slaves, boys are trained to fight, and both are used as suicide bombers. Inequality and a complacency about authority may encourage bullying of victims by both terrorists and communities, thus aiding...