Posted on March 15, 2015. Tags: 9/11, Al Qaeda, Charlie Hebdo, Conspiracy Theories, Danish Cartoons, European Union, Iraq, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Islamophobia, Jordan, King Abdullah, Middle East, Obama, Qur'an, Religion, Syria
This week, King Abdullah of Jordan appealed to European parliamentarians to help root out both terrorism and ‘Islamophobia’. Setting aside this interesting conflation, the wholesale failure of Arab and majority Muslim countries to embody either mutual respect or inclusivity towards many of their ethno-religious minorities bespeaks of an imbalance in critical attention to how those […]
Read the full story
Posted in Europe, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Posted on March 18, 2013. Tags: Al Qaeda, Assad, Jabhat an-Nusrah, Syria
The ongoing conflict that has been running in Syria for more than two years, and the brutality of the Syrian regime in suppressing the uprising has encouraged the emergence of radical Jihadist movements in the country. The most important of these movements and one which has raised significant controversy and discussion among the Syrian intelligentsia […]
Read the full story
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Posted on December 26, 2013. Tags: Al Qaeda, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Maliki
Every December, California based analyst Joel Wing and I discuss the coming 12 months in Iraq. Joel has been the author of the Musings on Iraq blog since 2008, providing detailed analysis of political, economic and security developments in Iraq. His work is frequently cited by leading journals and news outlets. The last year in […]
Read the full story
Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Posted on January 14, 2015. Tags: Al Qaeda, China, Europe, Globalization, ISIS, Modernity, Terrorism, The Taliban
The main source of hostility in the modern world is the widening gap between the most and least developed segments of human civilization. While some societies are exploring potential life on other planets, life has not changed much for others over the past millennium. Unlike in previous centuries, the permeation of modern day technologies makes […]
Read the full story
Posted in Asia, China, Conflict, Europe, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on January 24, 2015. Tags: Al Qaeda, alienation, Bowen, British Muslims, Charlie Hebdo, deprivation, France, French Muslims, Giles Kepel, identity, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, jihadi, Jivraj, multiculturalism, Racism, Religion, Salafism, Salafist Islam, Theo Van Gogh, United Kingdom
The tragedy of Charlie Hebdo has provoked an immense response from Muslims and non-Muslims all over the world. Almost all who have written about this issue have condemned the killings in Paris, equating them to other similar terrorist threats and attacks such as the Rushdie Affair and the 7/7 bombings in Britain, the 9/11 attacks, and […]
Read the full story
Posted in Europe, Islam, Religion, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on January 25, 2015. Tags: Afghanistan, Aid, Al Qaeda, Counter-terrorism, Culture, development, Enlightenment, Human, Humanitarian, Iraq, IS, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Military, Modernity, Philosophy, Politics, Poverty, rights, Taliban, Terrorism, UN, World
Why are humanitarian workers targeted? On World Humanitarian Day this year the United Nations reported that in various conflict zones in 2013, 155 aid workers were killed, 171 were injured and 134 were taken as captives. We have to ask, what is the justification for such acts? Let us begin with the illegal occupation of […]
Read the full story
Posted in Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, UN, World