In The News

What ISIS Really Wants

Graeme Wood February 23, 2015
Among Islamic State terrorists’ bizarre beliefs: The end of the world is near, and Muslims should embrace fear of God and rigid IS beliefs. As self-appointed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi claims to lead all Muslims. Despite roots with Al Qaeda, he and other leaders became frustrated with priorities that did not include a caliphate controlling the Muslim world. IS now hold strands of territory and...

Alienated Muslim Youth Seek Purpose, Thrills in Joining Jihad

Joji Sakurai February 19, 2015
Adolescents grapple to find an identity during a stage of human development described by psychologist Erik Erikson. Those who don’t succeed in feeling good about their role in society blame others and may hold a grudge against their community. They also make ideal targets for recruiters of criminal and extremist groups. “Religious fervor rarely has much to do with what draws people to join such...

Islam and the West at War

Roger Cohen February 17, 2015
The West, led by the United States, invaded Afghanistan and Iraq to eliminate dictatorial and extremist forces. Civil war has raged in Syria since early 2011; not long afterward, Islamic State terrorists took advantage of a power vacuum to assert rigid controls and slaughter Christians, Shia Muslims, Muslim troops from nearby countries as well as journalists and aid workers. The conflict’s roots...

New Ceasefire Points Toward Frozen Conflict in Ukraine

David R. Cameron February 12, 2015
A ceasefire in the fighting for eastern Ukraine was announced after leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Minsk. But a ceasefire alone may not produce a comprehensive settlement or an enduring peace, warns David R. Cameron, professor of political science at Yale University. “That requires resolution of the underlying, and possibly intractable, dispute over the constitutional form...

The Future of Force

Joseph S. Nye February 11, 2015
Security threats have evolved in recent decades, and governments must likewise prepare strategies beyond the use of force to monitor, control insurgent groups that are destabilizing so much of the Middle East and Africa. Joseph Nye of Harvard University who coined the phrase soft power points to a trend pf blurred boundaries between military troops and civilians: “Accelerating this shift is the...

Social Media Becomes Lifeline for Civilians Under Fire in Ukraine

Paul Sonne February 9, 2015
Anecdotal reports emerge of Ukrainians relying on social media to avoid skirmishes or track down missing relatives. Images and videos also document the conflict. “In the midst of the latest violence, online social-networking groups dedicated to specific towns in eastern Ukraine are offering some of the most vivid, real-time glimpses into the conflict’s crushing impact on civilians,” reports Paul...

The Fight Against ISIS After the Death of Jordan’s Pilot

Aaron David Miller February 6, 2015
The civilized world is repulsed by the war crimes committed by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq: rape and coerced marriages for young girls; numerous beheadings of aid workers, journalists as well as the organization’s own foot soldiers who question orders; the execution of a young Jordanian pilot by burning him alive. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Aaron David Miller suggests the war...