In The News

How Social Media Is Helping Islamic State to Spread Its Poison

Con Coughlin November 11, 2014
Exposure of top-secret, massive US surveillance operations by Edward Snowden – and subsequent efforts by companies like Twitter, Facebook, Google and Apple to counter the surveillance – is aiding the Islamic State, contends Con Coughlin for the Telegraph. “Aided by the increased use of encryption software by the leading internet service providers, terrorist groups such as the Islamic State … have...

Interview with an Islamic State Recruiter: “Democracy Is For Infidels”

Hasnain Kazim October 31, 2014
A few military successes by Islamic State terrorists in chaotic Iraq and Syria attract extremists from around the globe. Hasnain Kazim interviewed one recruiter in Turkey for Spiegel Online. The recruiter claims that the Islamic State can be highly selective, secretly interviewing applicants arriving in Turkey to assess motives and religious beliefs – exactly how far each will go in obeying...

Syrians to Be Trained to Defend Territory, Not Take Ground From Jihadists, Officials Say

Rajiv Chandrasekaran October 24, 2014
One measure of military success is installation of sustainable and stable governance. But that seems unlikely in the chaotic Middle East. The United States is leading a coalition to fight the Islamic State, which has terrorized communities with beheadings and even reports of chemical attacks. The United States has limited its intervention to air attacks in Syria and Iraq. The plan is to identify...

Lessons From Versailles for Today’s Middle East

Marc Grossman and Simon Henderson October 22, 2014
The Middle East is in disarray and the international community is urged to tackle root causes of the conflict by focusing on the end of World War I and treaties behind many of the region’s borders. “Many groups came to Versailles to plead for the chance to determine their own futures only to discover that it was a principle not to be universally applied,” note Mark Grossman and Simon Henderson....

Freedom vs. Stability: Are Dictators Worse Than Anarchy?

Christiane Hoffmann October 17, 2014
Internal rebellions and pressure from external sources have undercut brutal dictatorships in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and many initially celebrated. But in too many communities, anarchy has followed as well as unease among the celebrants. “Iraq and the entire region have descended into chaos and anarchy, clearing the way for the radicalization fostered by Islamic State,” writes...

As ISIS Take Kobane, NATO's Second Largest Army Sits on the Sidelines

Alexander Christie-Miller October 8, 2014
Most countries would swiftly intervene if a small town on the border was under attack by a vicious group that threatens to topple governments throughout the region. But Turkey, a NATO member, balks as Islamic State terrorists attack the small Syrian town of Kobane, suggesting it will help only “if there was a broader military commitment by Turkey’s allies to create a no-fly-zone in northern Syria...

Muslim Pilgrims Begin Hajj Pilgrimage

October 8, 2014
Saudi Arabia has dispatched more security personnel and health workers for this year’s annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca – 85,000 security and civil defense officers and 18 aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters have been deployed, reports Agence France Presse. This security expansion is largely in response to the alarming spread of the Islamic State on the attack in Iraq and Syria and threatening...