Global Terrorism

Does U.S. military aid make the United States safer? To answer this question, we collect data on 173 countries between 1968 and 2014. Exploiting quasi-random variation in the global patterns of U.S. military aid, our paper is the first to provide causal estimates of the effect of U.S. military aid on anti-American terrorism. We find that higher levels of military aid led to an increased likelihood of the recipient country to produce anti-American terrorism. For our preferred instrumental-variable specification, doubling U.S. military aid increases the risk of anti-American terrorism by 4.4 percentage points. Examining potential transmission channels, we find that more U.S. military aid leads to more corruption and exclusionary policies in recipient countries. Consistent with a theoretical argument developed in this paper, these results indicate that the inflow of military aid induces rent-seeking behavior, which in turn encourages terrorism by groups that suffer from reduced economic and political participation as a consequence of rent-seeking. These groups direct their dissatisfaction against the United States as the perceived linchpin of an unfavorable status quo in the recipient country.

Kulisy bliskiej współpracy komunistycznych służb z międzynarodowymi ugrupowaniami terrorystycznymi przez wiele lat należały do najpilniej strzeżonych sekretów PRL. Radykałowie z Bliskiego Wschodu oraz skrajnie lewicowi ekstremiści z Europy Zachodniej traktowali Polskę jako sprawdzonego sojusznika i bezpieczną przystań, gdzie można było skutecznie ukrywać się przed agentami służb zachodnich i w spokoju przygotowywać kolejne zamachy. Dzięki tajnym układom z peerelowskimi służbami cywilnymi i wojskowymi, terroryści czuli się w Polsce bezpiecznie. Omijali procedury wizowe, przysyłali rannych bojowników na odpoczynek, otrzymywali stypendia, otwierali własne firmy, handlowali bronią, a na nielegalnych interesach z państwowymi przedsiębiorstwami zarabiali miliony dolarów. Abu Nidal, Monzer Al-Kassar, Abu Dawud i Abu Abbas to tylko niektórzy z czołówki najgroźniejszych światowych terrorystów ostatniej dekady zimnej wojny, którzy nie tylko korzystali z gościny peerelowskich służb, ale traktowali Polskę jako ważne ogniwo przestępczej działalności. Dzięki drobiazgowym poszukiwaniom archiwalnym Autorowi udało się zrekonstruować najważniejsze siatki terrorystyczne operujące na terenie komunistycznej Polski oraz naświetlić okoliczności ich sekretnych powiązań z funkcjonariuszami aparatu bezpieczeństwa PRL.
https://ksiegarnia.pwn.pl/Zabojcze-uklady,713077485,p.html

This paper considers whether Internet Intermediaries should be proactive or reactive in the face of terror. It (1) reflects on the main arguments made by Internet intermediaries to justify their present passive and reactive policies, and (2) provides counter-arguments that endorse proactivity. It is argued that proactive policy is a responsible policy and that, in the long run, it serves the best interests of all stakeholders: Internet intermediaries, Netusers and society at large. The paper endorses Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that takes ethical considerations seriously. It is further argued that Internet intermediaries need to adapt to changing circumstances, where the number of anti-social abusers is growing. If not, then governments out of an obligation to public welfare will need to consider intervention. Indeed, some governments have already stepped in. It is preferable that volunteerism, sense of responsibility and ethics will guide business rather than coercive pol...

United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism report extensively quotes ISIS Defectors Interview Project which I conducted together with my colleague Anne Speckhard.

I am happy to share once again our project report and UN_CTED's analysis on the phenomenon of foreign fighters.

The title of the report is: Enhancing the Understanding of the Foreign Terrorist Fighters Phenomenon in Syria (please see page 20) They also cited our article several times.

Link: http://www.un.org/en/counterterrorism/assets/img/Report_Final_20170727.pdf

Our article and report about the project at the perspectives on terrorism: Eyewitness Accounts from Recent Defectors from Islamic State: Why They Joined, What They Saw, Why They Quit

https://www.academia.edu/19788498/Eyewitness_Accounts_from_Recent_Defectors_from_Islamic_State_Why_They_Joined_What_They_Saw_Why_They_Quit

In October 2017 the Jihadist movement in Cabo Delgado, which calls itself Al Sabha, committed its first terrorist action. Initially its resources and capacity were limited, but in recent times it has become more sophisticated in its weapons and strategy. Although estimates vary, in three years they have caused some 2,000 deaths, thousands of wounded and 400,000 displaced persons. Al Sabha's ties to the Islamic state have been accredited under the name "Islamic State's Central African Province (ISCAP), and its claim to establish Islamic law in the territory has been expressed explicitly. The porosity of the border with Tanzania and the impact on South Africa have led to fears of the regional spread of terrorism.

This is the Draft Table of Contents for my forthcoming book (Lexington--hopefully December 2016): Eco-Nihilism: The Philosophical Geopolitics of the Climate Change Apocalypse.

I post it here to give my readers--for whom I'm tremendously grateful--a preview of the book's themes and argument.

A book review for the RAND Corporation publication Terrorism, Violence and Insurgency Report that examines history's biggest pre-9/11 terrorist attack and offers recommendations that, if implemented, would have made 9/11 almost impossible to execute as reported.

Change is inevitable, change is verity and change is the spice of modern life leading. Everyday the world is on the move and the stagnation is the utter obstacle of any developmental effort. Keeping touch with the advanced world is the zest of globalization and so, innovative thinking, creative idea and global attitude is a must here. Therefore, the newly emerging concept of " Global Citizenship " is a 21st-century approach having some certain principles of global responsibility and accountability which are applied to everyday in our every local action. Borders are weakening, multiple citizenships are more commonplace, migration has reached record levels, and we, the people of the world have made the world so closer to our eye contact. With the growing technological advances governance is increasingly conducted beyond the parameters of the nation-state, the concept of global citizenship remains mysteriously absent.

Tradução para português do livro The History of Terrorism from Antiquity to Al Qaeda, por Gerard Chaliand e Arnaud Blin.
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Evolução histórica do terrorismo de indivíduos, entidades e incidentes bem conhecidos e historicamente significativos associados, com ou sem razão, ao terrorismo. Os estudiosos concordam que o terrorismo é termo polémico, como a régua de lesbos, adapta-se a qualquer situação seja estatal, política, religiosa, etc.  mas mesmo assim são poucos aqueles (terroristas) se descrevem como tais. É comum que os oponentes num conflito violento descrevam o outro lado como terroristas ou como praticantes de terrorismo.
De qualquer forma este livro apresenta dados que podem ajudar a entender este meandro evolutivo com quadrantes e épocas distintas.
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Este documento actual substitui o anterior por conter alguns erros e imprecisões.

Revisto  em 26OUT17

El terrorismo que inundó la Europa occidental surgió después del mayo del 68 y estuvo vinculado especialmente a la izquierda radical. La mayor parte de estos grupos tuvieron repercusión en los principales países, como las Brigadas Rojas en Italia, Action Directe en Francia, Grapo en España y la RAF en RFA, aunque también surgieron grupos en sintonía de menor repercusión en Grecia, Portugal y Bélgica. Algunos como el IRA y ETA tuvieron una mayor fuerza al tomar como base un nacionalismo revolucionario que les dio soporte social.  Todos ellos, tomaron como referencia a las guerrillas castristas americanas y los movimientos descolonizadores africanos y asiáticos, y se convirtieron en parte de la lucha de la Guerra Fría entre las dos grandes potencias.

This article assesses the relationship between terrorism and moral panics to expand understandings of the latter's eruption and orchestration. Answering calls for deeper considerations of folk devils' agentic properties, it interrogates how terrorist methods – the deployment of shocking and exceptional violence to incite fear and stimulate political change – challenge extant understandings of the moral panic framework. Specifically, it argues, in the case of terrorism, that the exaggerated threats and disproportionate responses that define moral panics are not driven solely by moral entrepreneurs or social control agents, but are informed by the strategic practices and rationalities of folk devils themselves. Through its approach, this research enhances social-scientific treatments of terrorism, broadens the scope of moral panic analysis, and extends understandings of how fear and anxiety are manipulated for political purposes.

The 'They are the Enemy, so Beware of Them' film series began with the release of the first video instalment in January 2012 during a period when Al-Shabaab was facing severe political, financial, and military pressures due to a renewed series of offensives by AMISOM, SFG, and allied Somali militia forces. However, the first video instalment included footage of the confession of an accused spy, Ahmed Kisi, which was originally broadcast in early February 2011 in a trial run of Al-Shabaab's terrestrial television station, the Al-Kataib News Channel, which stopped broadcasting after the group's withdrawal from Mogadishu in August 2011. In the footage, Kisi confessed to working for the CIA. He was later publicly executed by Al-Shabaab in the Huriwa district in northeastern Mogadishu. In a 2 February 2011 statement from Al-Shabaab, Kisi, a former member of the Somali Salafist Al-I'tisaam group that eventually became critical of Al-Shabaab, was accused of working for the CIA since 2004. Later video instalments included lengthy narrative confessions from other Somalis arrested by the Amniyyat and accused of spying for the group's enemies, including the CIA and the French intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE). In the third instalment, for example, a young Somali man, Muhammad Gele Abdullah, "confessed" to guiding French commando forces to the town of Buulo-Mareer in a failed attempt in January 2013 to rescue Denis Allex, who the DGSE had sent in 2009 to train Somali government forces and who was captured by Al-Shabaab in July of that year.

The purpose of the film series and other videotaped 'confessions' and written and photographic
reports from Al-Shabaab's media apparatus about alleged spies is to both warn current or potential spies working against the group and to broadcast an image to the group's enemies of an organisation that, although having suffered significant urban territorial losses, remains a both formidable and capable force, especially in terms of internal security and intelligence. Although reports and the production of written, audio, and audio-visual media focusing on spies has
increased since Spring 2011 as Al-Shabaab began to suffer major battlefield setbacks, the militant group has long been concerned about the dangers posed by domestic spies, particularly during periods of territorial upheaval.

http://www.janes.com/

Defined extensively as committing ecological criminal offences with the intention to achieve political goals, environmental terrorism is a global threat to environment, human life, safety and health, as well as to the survival of flora and fauna. Environmental terrorism contains the elements of environmental crime and the elements of terrorism, which makes the position of its victims particularly complex. The subject of this paper includes defining environmental terrorism, analysing its phenomenology. Since this form of crime simultaneously harms and endangers environment, material goods, human life, safety and health, flora and fauna, the subject also comprises the study of the specific position of its victims. It is emphasized that long lasting and extensive consequences of ecological criminal offences make it difficult to determine promptly the victims of this form of crime, as well as that its victims are victimized twice: due to terrorist attack and due to negative consequences of ecological criminal offences (such as severe health damage) often emerging after several years. The subject covers the analysis of current international legal mechanisms for the prevention and protection of environmental terrorism victims’  rights, including those dealing with terrorism in general as well as those relevant to the protection of environment from negative anthropogenic factors. Finally, the subject contains a critical analysis of legislative framework of the Republic of Serbia pertinent to the prevention and sanctioning of environmental terrorism, with focus on the provisions of current Criminal Code prescribing ecological criminal offences and terrorism. In order to achieve more precise tracking of the scope and dynamics of environmental terrorism and more adequate sanctioning compatible with its social hazard, the authors propose its incrimination as an independent criminal offence against humanity and other values protected by the international law. The purpose of this paper is to define environmental terrorism, analyse its forms and to examine current mechanisms for the prevention of victimization from environmental terrorism and the protection of its victims’ rights on international and national level. Moreover, the authors seek to contribute to the improvement of the quality of tracking and to the efficiency of prevention of victimization from environmental terrorism in Serbia by suggesting its incrimination as an independent criminal offence.
Key words: environmental terrorism, terrorism, victims, environment, ecological criminal offences, Serbia.

Stressing that the pronoun "I" picks out one and only one person in the world (i.e., me), I argue against Hunt (and other like-minded Rand commentators) that the supposed "hard case" of destructive people who do not care for their own lives poses no special difficulty for rational egoism. I conclude that the proper response to a terse objection like "What about suicide bombers?" is the equally terse assertion "But I don't want to get blown up."

After conquering large swaths of Syria and Iraq, the IS undertook an aggressive sectarian campaign in which they not only enacted horrific violence against the Shia people, but also damaged or destroyed several key Shia mosques and shrines. Drawing on Social Movement Theory (SMT), this article analyzes the response by various Shia nonstate actors—militia leaders, religious clergymen, populist preachers, and seminal poets. It argues that they used the IS threat to Shia holy sites to develop and deploy a mobilization frame that has come to be referred to as the “shrine protection narrative.” The article also documents the manifold consequences of the shrine protection narrative: it underpinned a mass recruitment drive that saw tens of thousands enlist; it legitimized foreign Shia militias to enter the conflicts in both Syria and Iraq; it justified the formation of entirely new militias who declared the centrality of shrine protection to their mandate; and it mobilized them to enact political violence. In doing so, this article extends existing studies of SMT to demonstrate that “sacred spaces”—and particularly the need to protect religious sites from specific threats—can serve as a powerful mobilization frame towards political violence.

This article addresses the problem of international law enforcement within the War on Cyberterrorism. Hybrid conflicts have replaced the traditional ones, and new threats have emerged in cyberspace, which has become a virtual battlefield. Cyber threats-cybercrimes, cyberterrorism, cyberwarfare-are a major concern for Western governments, especially for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The international community has begun to consider cyberattacks as a form of terrorism, to which the same measures apply. Because the term "terrorism" is ambiguous and legaly undefined, there is no consensus on a definition of the derivative term "cyberterrorism", which is left to the unilateral interpretations of states. Pretending to consider the cyberspace domain as traditional domains, and claiming to apply IHL for the sole purpose of lawfully using armed forces in contrast to cyberterrorism is a stretch. This paper addresses the question of whether or not current laws of war and international humanitarian law apply to cyber domain, and gives some recommendations on how to tackle this issue.

International Relations (IR) scholars uncritically accept the official narrative regarding the events of 9/11 and refuse to examine the massive body of evidence generated by the 9/11 truth movement. Nevertheless, as calls for a new inquiry into the events of 9/11 continue to mount, with theInternational 9/11 Consensus Panel and World Trade Centre Building 7 Evaluation inquiries havingrecently published their findings, and with a U.S. Federal Grand Jury on 9/11 having been announced,now would be an opportune moment for IR scholars to start taking the claims of 9/11 truth seri-ously. A survey of the 9/11 truth literature reveals that the official 9/11 narrative cannot be sup-ported at multiple levels. Two planes did not bring down three towers in New York. There is nohard evidence that Muslims were responsible for 9/11 other than in a patsy capacity. Various U.S.government agencies appear to have had foreknowledge of the events and to have covered upevidence. Important questions regarding the hijacked planes need answering, as do questions aboutthe complicity of the mainstream media in 9/11. IR scholars avoid looking at evidence regarding theevents of 9/11 for several reasons. They may be taken in by the weaponized term, “conspiracytheory.” A taboo on questioning the ruling structures of society means that individuals do not wishto fall outside the spectrum of acceptable opinion. Entertaining the possibility that 9/11 was a falseflag requires Westerners to reject fundamental assumptions that they have been socialized to acceptsince birth. The “War on Terror” has created a neo-McCarthyite environment in which freedom tospeak out has been stifled. Yet, if IR scholars are serious about truth, the first place they need to startis 9/11 truth.

Hasina in her very first question-answer session in the ninth parliament on January 28, 2009, unequivocally stated that “whenever action is taken against militants, it is described as an attack on Islam. But it is not right. The militants have no religion and operate beyond boundaries. Tough actions must be taken against militants as they act against humanity and religion.” Her firm approach has continued to date.  Consequently, it is expected that the recent surge in acts of terrorism will not last; normalcy will be restored sooner rather than later so long as the Government avoids a lackadaisical approach. On the contrary, any compromise at this juncture will prove detrimental to Bangladesh’s long-term security environment.

Formal university and college Intelligence Studies degree programs have experienced a pronounced growth in recent years, exhibiting a richness in diversity and engagement in both institutional type and instructional delivery. At face value American academia seems about to embark on a new era of cooperation and understanding with the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). But in seeking to determine whether progress in this development is as significant as is hoped in Washington, DC, this study reveals a persisting historical concern and academic bias that constrains the latent collaboration.

This chapter examines how the Arab Spring was gradually sectarianized, leading to the emergence of much more rigid and puritanical sect-based identities and inter-communal conflicts across the Middle East and extending even further outside of the region and across the Muslim-majority world.  Using the social movement theory concept of ‘framing,’ it considers how the various political and armed actors involved in the Syrian civil war and the conflict in Iraq, including regional actors such as the Iranian government, Hizbullah, Sunni and Salafi actors in the Arab Gulf states, and Sunni rebel and other militant jihadi organizations such as Jabhat al-Nusra/Jabhat Fath al-Sham, Islamic State, Jaysh al-Islam, and Ahrar al-Sham, have drawn on competing historical narratives and memory in combination with contemporary events to produce a thoroughly modern but also selectively ‘historicised’ social mobilization narrative meant to encourage activism from their target audiences.  The ways in which clashing historical memory and narratives are deployed in regional conflicts, which constitutes a form of re-fighting the past in the present, are analyzed.  Specific historical references, such as the invocation of Shi‘i legendary heroes of Karbala such as Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, which are today deployed as rhetorical weapons in geopolitical contests over power and political dominance, are also considered in detail.

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/jihadism-transformed-9780190650292?cc=us&lang=en&#

This study analyzes the political reasons that allowed the Islamic State to expand successfully in Syria and Iraq, by enabling to ‘franchise’ worldwide, and the role of the regional governments in this issue. The essay provides a different explanation from the classic approach of the “clash of civilizations” theorized by Samuel P. Huntington, ascribing responsibility for the growth and expansion of the Islamic State to the complex framework of geopolitical alliances within the Muslim civilization and the Arab world. The paper highlights the attempt by Turkey to establish itself as a regional power and guidance of the Islamic world, by resurrecting the Caliphate, and, based on this, explains the contrast with the Islamic State, which goal is the foundation of a globalized Caliphate. The plans of the Turkish President Erdoğan for a Great Turkey, allied with Egypt, have foundered with the coup that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power. The study relates the connection of Ankara with the Kurds, regarding the management of the crisis in Syria and Iraq, and the Turkish liaison with regional powers (Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel) and other powers (Russia, Cina and USA).

“Rivoluzionario professionista” convertito all’Islam, Carlos ha dedicato la sua vita combattendo “per la liberazione del mondo dallo sfruttamento imperialista e della Palestina dall’occupazione sionista”. Le armi gli “sono state imposte dalle circostanze, determinate dalla violenza stessa del nemico”, e il “terrorismo” è una fatalità imposta “dal rapporto di forze cui nessun resistente, musulmano o meno, può sfuggire, poiché è di fronte a un nemico potentissimo, senza freni né limiti in arroganza e ambizione di conquista”. Il terrorismo “è l’arma dei poveri”, “un’arma di prima scelta per ristabilire una parvenza di equilibrio contro la sproporzione dei mezzi di informazione, il cui monopolio assoluto è del nemico”, ovvero degli americani. In questo libro autobiografico commentato da Marco Marsili, Ilič Ramírez Sánchez ricostruisce le tappe della carriera che ne ha fatto il terrorista più famoso e ricercato nel mondo, dai primi attentati degli anni ‘70, all’amicizia con Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein e Mùammar Gheddafi, fino all’arresto avvenuto in Sudan nel ’94. Carlos svela la verità sugli attentati dell’11 settembre, e spiega, con una lucida analisi, la strategia statunitense della “guerra preventiva”, motivata dalla necessità di mantenere il controllo sul prezzo del petrolio, scambiato sui mercati internazionali in dollari. Una feroce critica ai media occidentali, al capitalismo, al consumismo, all’Onu, e alla sinistra occidentale, accusata di essersi adagiata “sugli allori della borghesia convertendosi al liberalismo californiano”.

Sequel to the paradigm of terrorism activities prevalent in many troubled economies, this study takes a look at the key implications of Boko Haram insurgency on the Nigerian economy and the numerous sectors that have been affected largely by the insurgency. In the recent Global Terrorism Index, GTI 2018 reports, Nigeria still maintains the top five countries mostly infested by terrorism, a position which it has maintained from year 2014. The study uses data from Nigerian GDP contributors in evaluating the effect of the terrorism on the macroeconomy of the nation. It takes each GDP indicators into cognizance looking at their contributions to various economic sectors relatively to growth rate (real GDP), in the years of the terror. Therefore, the methodology used to pinpoint and highlight the adverse effect of terrorism on the generality of the Nigerian economy cum sectors are facts, figures and data with use of images and graphical illustrations from existing secondary data and sources.
      The evaluation is basically using secondary data gathered from various sources and particularly from TheGlobalEconomy.com under the section of Nigerian domain as https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Nigeria/. More so, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, with figures and illustrations from the detailed 2015 and 2018 reports of Global Terrorism Index, GTI published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) are employed.
      Additionally, this work evaluated the core effects of the Boko Haram terror of 2014 on the economy, importantly, its impact which is more profound following its declaration as terror group, aftermath its 2014 activities using data, figures and illustration to juxtapose the standpoint. More importantly, this work justifies and shows that Boko Haram was one of the root causes of the economic recession witnessed in the Nigerian economy through 2016 to second quarter of 2017. Justifications used are GDP components, economic indicators, key sector contributors; their percentage contribution to GDP, value added as share of GDP, with the values mostly in US billion dollars and percentage change in the indicators, for effective evaluation of the impacts and implications of terrorism on the macro-economy of Nigeria. Actually, figures used in all the graphical illustrations are made available for record purpose, comparison and verification. The target year of focus for this work is the effect after 2014, it also evaluates the effect from 2009-2010 the start of the terror as an insurgency, but more focus is on the impact after 2014. Hence, data for economic sectors and contributors are from 1960-2017 while for GDP indicators and contributors span 1980-2017.
      The study concluded that terrorism has adversely affected the macro-economy of Nigeria, and recommended that apart from the government increasing security and defense, there is need to focus on economic indicators and growth, thereby stipulating that service industry should be enhanced as it can help the economy even in the face of terrorism, also is the need for devaluation of the currency as these can drive the economy to a state of stable growth in the presence of insurgency and attendant terrorism.

This research explores the theoretical categorization of Boko Haram as a terrorist organization and the effects of extrajudicial killing and an ineffective judicial system in providing a fertile ground for terrorism in Nigeria. This paper outlines a theory for the origin and evolution of terrorism and argues that human rights violations by state actors in northeastern Nigeria created a conducive environment for the growth and sustainability of Boko Haram in the region. It specifies the extent to which human rights abuses have contributed to making Boko Haram a terrorist organization in Nigeria. I found out that the extrajudicial killing of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf and some of his dependable allies by the state actors and the failure of the judiciary system and law enforcement to punish the perpetrators played a significant role in converting Boko Haram into a terrorist group. Thus the constant human rights violations by state actors and heavy-handedness of some overzealous law enforcement agents against defenseless citizens led to the transformation of Boko Haram from an Islamic Movement to an Islamic Terrorist Extremist group. It can be claimed that the Islamic group used these human right violation as excuses to further their ideology. This paper further examines the role of Al-Qaeda and other Sunni terrorist groups as sources of Boko Haram funding. Also analyzed are the global attention Boko Haram attacks has received, arms deals of Boko Haram and the effects of Nigeria border porosity.

Terrorism by an Islamist group known as Boko Haram has been raging in Nigeria since 2009 and has spilled over into neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Consequently, two million people have been displaced, 100,000 lives lost and properties worth N3.2 trillion ($9 billion) destroyed in the three-worst hit northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. The Federal Government has been collaborating with the international community in the counter-terrorism, gaining huge successes including the rescuing of nearly 200 of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014 and dislodging the terrorists from their base in the infamous Sambisa Forest. However, the Government’s militarized approach toward the counter-terrorism has been critiqued in the literature, with suggestions for a multi-dimensional approach. This book recommends a research approach and proposes the Adoption and Use of Cyber Technology by Terror Groups Model (AUCTTGM). The model is expected to explain and predict factors determining terror groups’ cyber technology usage to threaten the peace and spread annihilative extremist propaganda in society as well as proffer clues to the ways of ending terrorism for good.

Turkey’s journey towards one-man rule and a new political system without checks and balances turned a new corner with the disputed national referendum on 16 April 2017. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won new powers from voters, which confirmed his consistent efforts over years to transform Turkey from a secular Western democratic country into a political Islamist and authoritarian police state. Erdogan once said that democracy, for him, is not the objective but rather a tool, comparing it to a bus within a journey. “Once I get to my stop, I will get off.” Apparently, after highly controversial elections, Erdogan has arrived at his stop, and he has gotten off the democracy bus. Many scholars agree that the secular Republic of Turkey as it has been known does not exist anymore, and it is not coming back under the Erdogan dicta.

As a consequence, the West now has to deal with a political Islamist police state with a large portion of radicalised citizens. The priorities should be set to assist and help the people suffering in Turkey at the hands of Erdogan’s regime, many guilty of nothing more than not supporting the status quo. The West, when dealing with Erdogan, should seriously consider extending their support to the people suffering inside Turkey. Europe has ample leverage against Erdogan, including travel sanctions against individual members of the Turkish government, economic sanctions, refusal to sell arms, and politically pressuring the Erdogan regime. All these tools should be considered to assist the suffering Turks in the name of humanity and for the future bilateral and peaceful relationship between Turkey and Europe after Erdogan’s departure. European countries should also consider taking the allegations against the Turkish president listed in this article to the International Criminal Court at The Hague for the crimes against humanity. Europe must prioritise a sincere approach in order to neutralise threats coming from the Erdogan regime and his supporters and extend their hands to the brave citizens who did not accept becoming part of Erdogan’s dicta. While many Turkish citizens have found refuge in Europe, thousands are still being tortured, raped and even killed in Turkey. The world must find a way to stop this misery before it becomes a tragic loss of life reminiscent of the worst crimes in world history.

http://www.orient-online.com/

http://www.orient-online.com/issues/ORIENT-III/2017

The so-called Islamic State and the (slow but steady) Radicalisation of Turkey. Available from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318066367_The_so-called_Islamic_State_and_the_slow_but_steady_Radicalisation_of_Turkey [accessed Jul 5, 2017].

This report reviews and categorizes the enormous corpus of knowledge produced by American academic and policy institutions about U.S. relations with the Middle East and other Islamic actors in the international arena. The report identifies five epistemic communities – conservatives, neoconservatives, realists, liberals and the left – and analyzes their discourses and policy recommendations. Finally, the policies that these epistemic communities recommended are evaluated and assessed. The author recommends a mixed-paradigmatic approach that will not only make the United States more effective in the Middle East but also underscore its continuing relevance to the security and the stability of the region and the global order.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was founded in 2007 as the latest offshoot of the global jihad. But it is deeply rooted in a long and complex history of political violence in North Africa, including the recruitment “Afghan” volunteers in the 1980s, the civil war raging in the 1990s, and the more recent crisis of salafi-jihadist terrorism. Despite all its global rhetoric, AQIM has not fully transcended its local dynamics, between its Algerian strongholds and its Saharan Sahel hideouts.
In analyzing the threat of AQIM, one must take into consideration the reasons why a global terror organization would be receptive to limited regional nationalist Islamist groups in North Africa, and vice versa. In navigating through the historical underpinnings of these Maghreb nationalist groups, one sees a philosophical commonality between decades-old Fanonian revolutionary thought, and current anti-Western Salafist ideology. Both advocate violence as a means to overthrow an oppressive regime. Both call for a reawakening of a Pan-Arabic identity. Although the ends may differ, the means to get there are strikingly similar. Even more so, in taking a look at both Al Qaeda’s and the regional groups’ strengths and weaknesses, the reasons for a merger become clearer, in terms of finance, geography, and operational logistics.
A study in the security threat of Al Qaeda in North Africa would not be complete without the counterterrorism measures being implanted by both North African nations, and their American and European allies. This includes various regional and transnational security partnerships, as well as American and European assistance initiatives such as PSI, TSCTI, and the establishment of AFRICOM. Also, because no plan is perfect, there is more that can be done to both contain and eliminate the terrorists in North Africa presently, and prevent the incubation and flourishing of more in the future. To a young North African Muslim male, the message of Al Qaeda is pervasive and persuasive. Therefore, the counter-narrative, as well as the counter-action, must be just as effective.

AS DEMONSTRATED by the recent wave of attacks, terrorists find ways to thwart counter-terrorism defenses. However, for leaders who seek it, there is a simple and cost-effective solution to create lasting peace known in military circles as Invincible Defense Technology (IDT). This method comes from the fields of social sciences and quantum unified field theory – not from conventional approaches utilizing weaponry, and not from the field of politics.

[At the time of this writing URL to PDF is not operating. The article was also published in ISRAEL in ME Peace (Middle East Peace) at http://mepeace.org/profiles/blogs/an-unthwartable-counter-terrorism-defense  This online HTML version links to information validating the claims made in the article.]

The Boko Haram terrorist group’s philosophy and activities have been subjected to different interpretations among the Nigerian populace. Such interpretations follow traditional lines of ethnic, regional, cultural, and religious cleavages in Nigeria. Some perceive it as war by Muslims against Christians, some as a sponsored conspiracy against the Muslim North, and others interpret it as the Northern war against the emergence of President Jonathan from the south-south geopolitical zone. A few regard it as a generic name for criminal gangs in Northern Nigeria. While overwhelming opinions in the south tilt toward a scorched-earth policy to counter Boko Haram, much of the north favors dialogue. One of the implications of these responses is the widening of already existing cleavages in Nigerian society, thereby further undermining efforts at building unity and coexistence among Nigeria’s varying
nationalities.

A new report from Hate Speech International examines the history and evolution of al-Shabab’s media operations capabilities and narrative messaging. The report, written by Christopher Anzalone – a Research Fellow with the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs – gives particular attention to their strategic use and position within the insurgents’ broader strategy of territorial control, survival, and rule in light of shifts on the ground inside Somalia and, since 2012, increasingly in neighboring countries such as Kenya.

Also analyzed are the multiple target audiences of Al-Shabab’s multi-faceted media campaign; the importance of on-the-ground organizaiton and performance of political rituals and events as an integral part of insurgent propaganda; the growing battle between the group and Islamic State and its domestic and regional sympathizers in Somalia and East Africa; and the construction of specific media operations narratives designed to attract particular target audiences – domestic, regional and international.

Understanding the ways in which AlShabab’s sophisticated media campaign operates and identifying this multimedia output’s multiple intended audiences and its ability to advance insurgent influence and power projection are key to reaching a fuller comprehension of the successes and failures of one of the most successful insurgent movements of the 21st century.

https://www.hate-speech.org/new-report-on-al-shabab-media/

This report focuses on the case of Greece, where the phenomenon of radicalisation has been present throughout the period from the mid-1970s. Greece displays one of the most persistent problems of terrorism in Europe, raising anew the question of why extremist and revolutionary organisations continue to emerge and be active in democracies. Since the 2010, right wing and left wing extremism and radicalisation have intensified, especially in the context of a deepening social and economic crisis. The report provides a background study on radicalisation in Greece and the various forms that it takes, as a basis to bridge existing knowledge gaps on the subject. It provides and overview of past and current radicalisation trends. The national background study aims to first, identify and assess the legal and institutional responses to the processes of radicalisation that may lead to acts of violence and second, to review and analyse trends (ideas, actors, actions, motivations and root causes) in three strands of radicalisation (right and left wing, Islamist radicalisation and football hooliganism).

The aim of this article is not to directly engage with this literature but to point to the hermeneutical limits of the critique of mainstream Sunnism vis-à-vis the Salafi-jihadist interpretations with particular reference to the literature produced by the proponents of the IS. The main argument the article makes is that by subscribing to what will be termed a “Salafi worldview,” mainstream Sunnism shares many interpretationally crucial epistemological and methodological mechanisms with those adopted by the proponents of the ideology behind the IS. As such mainstream Sunnism has strong hermeneutical limits that do not allow it to be in a position to mount an interpretationally effective rebuttal of many beliefs and practices Salafi-jihadists resort to including those pertaining to apostasy, enslavement, and gender-related issues.

For the past year and a half, al-Shabaab has continued to take advantage of the ongoing political and security turmoil between Somalia’s federal government, regional state administrations, and other powerful social groups, including the country’s clans and sub-clans and minority groups. Militarily, the jihadi-insurgent group retains significant capabilities to launch a range of attacks targeting both military and “soft” targets, including major suicide-vehicle bombings inside the most secure areas of the country such as central Mogadishu. In 2017, the group also overran a number of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali government military bases and forcefully reasserted itself in the northern Puntland region. Meanwhile, the Islamic State in Somalia, al-Shabaab’s main jihadi competitor, continues to lag behind it in terms of numbers, military capabilities, and media reach, though there are recent signs that the Islamic State-Somalia has been able to penetrate more deeply into the Afgooye area to the west of the capital and outside of its Puntland base.