The UK's new counterterrorism strategy neglects overseas priorities when it comes to combating terrorist activity at the source. On June 4, the UK government published the latest version of its counterterrorism strategy (CONTEST.) The strategy has developed significantly since its early...
What is behind the rise in terrorism across the globe? This November, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) released the Global Terrorism Index 2016, the latest of its yearly reports laying out year-on-year statistical trends in worldwide terrorism. The report draws from a comprehensive...
International cooperation is essential to destroy sanctuaries of militant jihadism in Asia. In July 2015, at the BRICS Summit, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said: “While threats to global order in general and to the state system in particular are increasing, the response is...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Masoud Banisadr, a former member of Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. In 1965, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MeK) was established in Iran in opposition to US imperialism. Espousing a blend of Marxism and Islam, the group helped bring about the Iranian Revolution...
The hostage situation at a hotel in the Malian capital comes after months of sporadic violence. After a week in which Europe was rocked by terrorism on the streets of Paris, gunmen entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, the capital of Mali, on November 20. A hostage situation unfolded and...
Regardless of what can be said about the Taliban, IS, al-Qaeda and the rest, they are fighting for an ideology they deeply believe in, says Larry Beck. Trying to figure out the battlefield conditions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria is a truly perplexing task. Being perplexed may be the one thing...
The Saudi-led fight against Houthi rebels in Yemen will lead to irreversible consequences for the stability of the country and its people. Six months after a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive against Shiite Houthi rebels, it is difficult to conceive how the situation on the ground in...
If the international community sees the Islamic State as a mere extension of al-Qaeda, the measures taken against it will fail. On June 26, the world watched in horror as terrorists unleashed a series of attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and France. While people struggle to make sense of the...
To deem behavior or opinion as extremist depends on a particular point of view. In January, a million people gathered behind world leaders who elbowed each other to be out in front of a “Je Suis Charlie” banner. When normality does not sell, as Vincente del Bosque puts it, elites cut out an...
The failure of African states to adequately address their differences has provided the fertile ground on which rebel groups now prosper. Africa arguably faces the biggest threat to political stability since the collapse of colonialism in the mid-20th century. The threat comes from the...
