Terrorism

By Julie Poucher Harbin, editor/ Alberto Fernandez | ISLAMiCommentary | – – Dozens of Middle East studies scholars, students and the general public packed a public talk — “Beyond Hysteria and Apologia: The ISIS Challenge in Perspective” — given by retired US diplomat Ambassador Alberto Fernandez. “ISIS is neither the coming of World War 3, […]

Featured

Turkish-Russian Airspace Conflict as Ankara-backed Turkmen flee Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia rejected as “propaganda” on Saturday renewed Turkish charges that its fighter jets had crossed Turkish territory. NATO asked Moscow to respect its joint airspace. A promontory of Turkish territory sticks down into northern Latakia, and it would be very difficult to conduct the sort of […]

Counter-Terrorism

8 Ways Nonviolence can Combat Terrorism

contributors

By George Lakey | ( Waging Non-Violence) | – – One of my most popular courses at Swarthmore College focused on the challenge of how to defend against terrorism, nonviolently. Events now unfolding in France make our course more relevant than ever. (The syllabus was published in “Peace, Justice, and Security Studies: A Curriculum Guide” […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Daesh/ ISIL making Play for Moderate Muslims, as GOP Candidates deny they Exist

Juan Cole

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – While ISIS makes war on the world’s vast majority of “moderate Muslims,” hardliners in the West pretend they don’t exist. In the 13th century, the Italian town of Lucera was a Muslim island in a sea of Christendom. Here Frederick II, the head […]

Iraq

The Kurdish Women fighters taking on Daesh/ ISIL: An Eyewitness Account

contributors

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – It was the sort of invitation that causes both excitement and trepidation, an invite to visit the autonomous mountain enclave in northern Iraq known as Kurdistan to carry out field research. It was exciting because we were being given an “inside track” to a moderate […]

Counter-Terrorism

The Surprising Reason we Keep Falling for ISIL/ Daesh Propaganda

contributors

Haroro J. Ingram | (The Conversation) | – – The rise of [the so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) has reaffirmed what al-Qaeda and the Taliban proved last decade: strategic communications, particularly counter-propaganda efforts, remains one of the key weaknesses of Western counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency strategy. In November 2007, the then-US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said: […]

Chaldeans

UNESCO: “Deepest Concerns” for Mideast Christianity after Daesh/ISIL Razes oldest Iraqi Monastery

contributors

UNESCO | (Media Services) | – – “I express my deepest concerns after the destruction of the Monastery of St Elijah. It was the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq and an invaluable testimony to the rich cultural and religious diversity of the country. For 1,400 years the monastery stood as a place of worship and […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Arabs Caught between Trump and ISIL: Casino Capitalism driving backward Identity Politics Worldwide

contributors

Maged Mandour | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – Backwards looking politics is a malaise affecting both the west and east. It breeds violence as global elites clamber to maintain their grip on power. Flickr/Darron Birgenheier. Some rights reserved.Comments by leading republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, on banning Muslims from entering the United States garnered […]