In The News

Islamic State Militants Find a Foothold in Chaotic Libya

Maggie Michael February 20, 2015
Civil war, religious divides and power vacuums in Iraq, Syria and now Libya have made it easy for Islamic State terrorists to take patchy control, attracting new recruits while targeting oil facilities, banks and other businesses and government offices. Well publicized violence swiftly subdues the divided citizens: The Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of a group of Coptic...

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...

There’s No Such Thing as Anonymous Data

Scott Berinato February 13, 2015
Analysis of huge datasets offers the potential for lifesaving health care, productive economies and workplaces, and smooth highway traffic. Yet consumers must assume that every electronic transaction could be compromised, suggests Scott Berinato for Harvard Business Review. Berinato reports on a paper published in Science by Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye showing how “anonymous credit card data can...

Chinese Authorities Snuff out Last Online Remnants of the New York Times

David Dawson February 12, 2015
Chinese internet censors have eliminated the New York Times from the Sina Weibo site, essentially removing any trace of the major newspaper-of-record for the United States. “The New York Times’ Sina Weibo account didn’t tackle subjects with the same sensitivity as those in the publication, which is probably why it outlasted the other social media accounts of the Chinese edition of the newspaper...

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...

China Further Tightens Grip on the Internet

Andrew Jacobs January 30, 2015
An open internet nurtures innovation as well as dissidence, yet regulations fail to discern between the two. Chinese attempt to block sites that allow privacy and select sharing could backfire, actually instigating more protests by frustrating China’s most productive users. “By interfering with Astrill and several other popular virtual private networks, or V.P.N.s, the government has complicated...