In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Madrid (2004) and London (2005), many Western governments developed countering violent extremism (CVE) strategies, with the UK's PREVENT scheme, launched in 2007, being considered the world’s first of this kind. What these CVE programs (more recently...
In my first article of this three-part series, I made the case that the victory of the Taliban would radicalize Pakistan and increase its global nuclear threat. Notably, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is not only changing its eastern neighbor, but also fundamentally altering the...
The upheaval in Afghanistan was undoubtedly one of the most shocking events of the year. It will likely have fatal consequences for the Afghan people, neighboring countries and the international community. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is so devastating that it is impossible to predict the...
Twenty years have passed since the 9/11 attacks in the United States. It was in the immediate aftermath that US President George W. Bush declared his infamous “war on terror” and launched a cataclysmic campaign of occupation in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2001, a US-led coalition invaded...
The concept of decolonizing the curriculum within British higher education returned to the spotlight this year with the Sewell Report on ethnic and racial disparities. While there are myriad problems and risks in downplaying institutional racism, the section of the report that criticizes...
For researchers looking from the outside, the small, impassioned worlds generated by the extreme right can seem, to say the least, deeply unappealing. The agendas of such extremists are often hopelessly unlikely to succeed, and the views expressed by activists render them beyond the pale for most...
Over the past year, far-right demonstrations have captured media attention. From several protests against COVID-19-related restrictions to disturbing episodes at national legislatures in Germany and the United States, far-right actors have proven their capability to mobilize on the street....
It is now well known that younger officers in the Pakistani army are no longer members of the Scotch-swilling elite. To understand the growing radicalization in Pakistan, it is instructive to read Nadeem F. Paracha, a noted columnist in Dawn, Pakistan’s most reputed newspaper. In 2013, he...
Religious groups and alternative medicine advocates have always been resistant to vaccines. But in the current COVID-19 anti-vaccination movement, they have mutated into variants of the far right in a violent mush of anti-establishment conspiracies, white supremacy and anti-Semitism. Religion...
Sonny and Cher are among the best-known duos in pop history. Their 1965 single “I Got You Babe” is a must in any “best of” oldies-but-goodies compilation. On YouTube, the song has been viewed more than 14 million times. After the couple divorced, Cher embarked on a fulminant career that...
Following the fall of Kabul in August, the first face-to-face meeting between US officials and the Taliban took place last week. As is typical in such first encounters, both sides came with their respective agendas, including demands and requests of the other side. The one issue on which both...
