Violence and Security

Grand Imam Sends Mixed Messages in WCC Address

October 11, 2016

In a Geneva meeting of the Muslim Council of Elders with the World Council of Churches, the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University decried global poverty, secularism, and the hypocrisy of the UN system; called for inter-religious dialogue in youth education and human security improvements; and critiqued those who aim to identify Islam with violence.
Testimony: Islamist Pressure Groups in US Intimidate Muslims

October 05, 2016

Testimony by Muslim Americans at a recent hearing of a US House of Representatives subcommittee identified US Islamist groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, that have engaged in pressure tactics to silence Muslims trying to discuss religious reform and engage in self-criticism.
French Debates Consider Effects of Term "Islamophobia"

October 05, 2016

French politicians and academics are unpacking the challenges of the term "Islamophobia" as propaganda used by Islamist militants" to "disqualify all speech on Islam or Muslims" by non-Muslims and to limit Muslims' contributions to debates on religion and society to "statements of grievance or complaint."
ICC Makes Conviction in Destruction of Mali Religious Sites

October 05, 2016

The International Criminal Court has convicted Islamist extremist Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a leader of the "Islamic Morality Brigades" associated with local al Qaeda forces in Mali, of a war crime for his role in the destruction of historic religious sites considered blasphemous by Islamist extremists.
IS Virtual Planners Ensure "Lone Wolves" Are Not Alone

September 28, 2016

The Islamic State has developed a cadre of virtual planners working in the darknet to recruit, radicalize, and train groups of "lone wolves" for attacks, primarily on Western civilian targets, underscoring that lone wolves are actually part of IS's strategic adaptation to shifts in the caliphate's territorial footprint.
Islamist Attacks in US Reveal Recruitment of Recent Immigrants

September 28, 2016

The spate of "lone wolf" terror attacks across the US underscores the policy challenges in meeting jihadi recruiting campaigns that target "in betweeners," or young adults whose recent immigration to America confronts them with socioeconomic adjustments that are exploited by Islamist extremist propaganda.
Russia Faces Militant Islamist Penetration, Encirclement

September 28, 2016

Russia's security establishment is warning of threats from militant Islamism, related to Islamically conservative Central Asian economic migrants and to aggressive Islamic State radicalization initiatives in Russia's mosques and underground Islamic education groups.
Boko Haram Causes Catastrophe in African Sahel Region

September 28, 2016

Experts warn that the seven-year jihadi campaign by Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist group aiming to impose sharia law in Africa, has caused a catastrophic security, humanitarian, refugee, and migration crisis across the geopolitically crucial Sahel region encompassing Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
Report Cautions Against Involvement in Global Islamic Disputes

September 28, 2016

A new Atlantic Council report on Western strategies for countering global Islamist extremism cautions against involvement in Islamic theological disputes, suggesting instead the importance of understanding and preparing for the political and security consequences of such religious debates.
Economists Warn of Potential Effects of Muslim Population Growth

September 28, 2016

Economists caution that data indicating comparatively high demographic growth for Muslims worldwide in the next decades increase the possibility of global geopolitical instability and socio-political unrest driven by Muslim youth frustrated by lack of employment opportunities and economic growth.