Violence and Security

Article: Ending IS May Include Diplomacy with Islamists

November 30, 2017

An article in Foreign Policy argues that transatlantic success at preventing Islamic State (IS) resurgence in the Mideast caliphate territories must involve commitments to rebuilding socioeconomic infrastructure in Iraq and Syria and American diplomatic engagement with moderate Islamist leaders in both Saudi Arabia and Iran.
EU Chief Seeks Broader Migration Pathways

November 29, 2017

Politico reports that, in a recent interview, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called on EU member states to "create legal ways" for migrants from developing countries to come to Europe, warning that the European continent "will be lost" if it fails to permit sufficient immigration in the coming years.
UN Monitor: Counter-Terror Operations Lead to Racism

November 29, 2017

The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism Mutuma Ruteere recently warned the UN General Assembly that counterterrorism policies and "hate speech" are contributing to a rise in "racism, Islamophobia and discrimination" around the world.
NGOs Criticize Dutch Confinement of Terror Suspects

November 29, 2017

A report from Amnesty International and the Open Society Justice Initiative accuses the Netherlands of violating human rights by detaining people charged with terrorism offenses in certain prisons, restricting the time they spend outside their cells, and subjecting them to enhanced monitoring and other security measures.
IS Social Media Chatter Includes Calls for Barron Trump Assassination

November 28, 2017

Recent chatter among Islamic State (IS) supporters on the secure social-media platform Telegram includes details about the call to assassinate Barron Trump, the youngest child of US President Donald Trump.
Islamist Militants Commit Mass-Casualty Egypt Mosque Attack

November 28, 2017

Attackers likely affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) have perpetrated a mass-casualty attack on a mosque in the Sinai Peninsula, as part of an escalation of attacks against Egyptian government facilities, Coptic Christians, and now Muslim sites frequented by worshipers IS considers to be disloyal to the cause of the caliphate.
Experts Call for Iraq-Syria Reconstruction, Development

November 28, 2017

Transatlantic security experts recently convening at a major UK counter-terrorist forum warned that, absent sustained international reconstruction and development assistance to Iraq and Syria following the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) caliphate, new configurations of IS and al-Qaeda militants will emerge in the Mideast to continue the global Islamist project.
Al-Qaeda Islamism Is a Protracted Threat to US Interests

November 28, 2017

A new report submitted by the Center for Naval Analysis to the US Congress characterizes al-Qaeda as a threat to American national security and strategic interests, based on al-Qaeda’s long time horizon and unwavering commitment to building a global sharia order based on Islamist principles.
Mosque Attack Shows Egypt’s Vulnerability to Militant Islamism

November 28, 2017

An attack thought to be perpetrated by an Islamic State affiliate that killed over 300 worshipers at a Sufi mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has underscored the vulnerabilities of the country in effectively combating the spread of Islamist extremist groups that carry out mass-casualty attacks and have ample safe havens among militant Islamist groups in neighboring Libya.
IS Collapse Enables Iranian Islamist Model

November 28, 2017

The military defeat of Islamic State (IS) has created a window of opportunity for the consolidation of an alternative model of global Sunni jihadism, as Iran strengthens its anti-IS client relationships in Syria and Iraq to consolidate a Shiite Islamist arc in the Mideast that will function as a platform for export and promotion of global jihad.