Religious Extremism

Sectarianism Affects Lebanon's Environment, Public Health

February 21, 2019

The metastasizing environmental and public health problems of Lebanon are overwhelmingly tied to policymaking gridlock caused by the effort of non-Shiite, non-Islamist parties to counter the growing dominance of the Iran-client Hezbollah Party in Lebanon's multi-confessional state.
EU Designates Saudi Arabia “High-Risk” for Terror Financing

February 21, 2019

The EU has designated Saudi Arabia as a "high-risk third country" because of "strategic deficiencies" in the Islamic theocracy's counter-terrorism regimes, underscoring growing transatlantic concerns about the continuing impact of Saudi Arabia's financing of global jihadist operations.
Islamist Regimes, Groups Use Religion as Soft-Power Tool

February 21, 2019

According to a blog post published by the Brookings Institution, effective foreign policy aiming to counter Islamist extremism depends on an improved understanding of how Islamist state regimes and non-state actors recognize religion as a form of soft power that can be deployed transnationally through violent and non-violent tools.
Iranians Engage in Resistance Against Islamist Dress Codes

February 20, 2019

Evidence of growing popular resistance to Iran's Morality Police was on display recently when a group of citizens attacked a van of the country’s “Guidance Patrol” unit to prevent the arrest of two women for supposed violations of the country's hijab laws.
Saudi Prince Cites Islamic Solidarity with Pakistan

February 20, 2019

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) cited the "principle of Islamic solidarity" that unites Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in an awards ceremony feting MBS with the Pakistani state's highest civilian honor and a signing ceremony formalizing $20 billion in defense and development agreements.
US Charges Former Intelligence Officer with Espionage for Iran

February 14, 2019

The US Department of Justice has charged a former US Air Force intelligence officer who converted to Islam and defected to Iran in 2013 with spying for the Islamic theocracy and revealing intelligence as part of a broader cyber operation aiming to penetrate American intelligence and use social media to push malign activities.
Saudi Women's Driving Activist Goes Missing

February 14, 2019

The disappearance of Saudi women's rights and women's driving activist Louhain Al-Hathloul, who has been detained without charge since last June in Riyadh, raises red flags about continuing violations of civil and political liberties in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan Announces Islamic School Reform

February 14, 2019

The Pakistani government's announcement of a plan to integrate public schools and Islamic parochial schools (madrassas) has generated a debate about the significance of external funding aiming to use education as a mechanism for Islamist radicalization and revolution.
Turkey Targets Police with Another Round of Arrests

February 14, 2019

Turkey's ruling party mainly targeted police officers in a new round of over 1000 arrests allegedly aimed at supporters of the Islamist Gulen group blamed by the party for perpetrating a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Review of Iran Reveals Gaps Between Islamist Politics and Society

February 11, 2019

The 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, which ousted the country’s secular ruler and ushered in the theocracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, shows a political regime still defined by strict Islamist ideology but a society increasingly flexible about the impacts of religion on daily life.