Violence and Security

Saudi Arabia Launches Islamic Anti-Terrorism Coalition

December 16, 2015

Saudi Arabia has announced that it has launched a coalition of 34 "Islamic countries," excluding Shia-majority Iran and Iraq, to coordinate attacks against Islamist extremists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan.
California Attack Reveals Gaps in Monitoring Social Media for Potential Jihadis Applying for US Visas

December 15, 2015

US officials confirm that one of the perpetrators of the recent Islamic State ("IS") inspired terrorist attack in California had actively declared her radical Islamist commitments in Facebook posts over a two-year period, raising serious concerns about the deficits in US law-enforcement procedures for reviewing social media to identify potential jihadis among foreigners seeking US entry visas.
US Shifts from Clarity of Operations to Dynamics of Radicalization in Trying to Combat Violent Islamism

December 15, 2015

US President Barack Obama has pushed for a new direction in America's efforts to combat the global spread and domestic manifestations of violent Islamism, shifting from an exclusive focus on counter-terrorism operations to a more complex effort to identify the ideological narratives and material enticements that account for the dangerous appeal of jihadi Islamism in developing and post-modern societies.
US Policy Prevented Scrutiny of Visa Applicants' Social Media

December 15, 2015

As questions continue to arise over how the San Bernardino shooters entered the US after they were radicalized, The Hill reports that a former official from the US Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") has spotlighted a DHS policy that prevented, allegedly for political reasons, immigration officials from investigating social-media posts of applicants for US visas.
Taliban Escalate Jihad Insurgency to Retake Afghanistan

December 15, 2015

The Taliban remain committed to making Afghanistan into a sharia state, escalating their insurgency to capture the southern province of Helmand on the border with Pakistan as a strategic beachhead for recapturing the entire country.
Renunciation of Violence Is Key in Debates on Reform in Islam

December 15, 2015

Because renunciation of the ideological commitment to conquering violence is at the core of debates about reform within Islam, extremist Islamists deliberately promote those debates by misrepresenting the American religious experience as a reductionist, two-option choice for Muslims, between jihadi authenticity versus secularist dissolution.
US Imam Claims Support of Trump Views Led to Ouster

December 15, 2015

The Fox affiliate in Beaumont, Texas, reports that a local imam says he was forced to resign as religious director of an Islamic Society because he agreed with presidential candidate Donald Trump's call for temporary restrictions on Muslims entering the US.
US House Passes Visa Waiver Restrictions

December 15, 2015

The Los Angeles Times reports that the US House of Representatives has passed a measure requiring nationals of countries that have a "visa-waiver" agreement with the US, permitting them to enter the US without a visa, to obtain a visa if they have visited Syria, Iraq, Iran, or Sudan since 2011.
Global Islamist Insurgency Demands Straight Talk and Complex Policy

December 14, 2015

A deradicalized Islamist argues that success in defeating Islamic State's ("IS") global Islamist insurgency demands candid discussion about distinctions between totalitarian Islamism versus Islam and complex policy combining military action with diplomacy.
Muslims Must Be Part of the Solution to Extremist Islamism

December 14, 2015

The internationalization of the Islamic State ("IS") war in Syria and Iraq and the globalization of Islamist violence has provoked an intense US policy debate about countering extremist Islamism, with growing calls for Muslim-majority states and anti-IS Muslims to assume a more activist role in combating puritanical Islamist ideas and jihadi groups.