In the years since 9/11, the Islamic reform movement has advanced sufficiently that two distinct camps have emerged: reformers and bridge-builders. Genuine reformers seek to transform how Islam is practiced, while bridge-builders seek to improve how Islam is perceived, mainly by non-Muslims.Reformers tend to be Muslims who fault their co-religionists from previous centuries for writing […]
New Developments in Suicide Attacks
Last week was a busy one for analysts of suicide terrorism. The classic “profile” (21-year old single male) was shattered again, as entire families in Indonesia and dozens of Palestinians carried out attacks that required their deaths. The inspiration for such disparate populations to sacrifice themselves and their children was their desire to become holy […]
Terrorism In Iran: As Ye Reap…
Last week, Iranian-born Islamic State (ISIS) operatives carried out the first known terrorist attack in Iran that was not conducted by elements of the Iranian government against its own people. President Trump condemned the violence, but he also added “We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.” The […]
Munich Shooting Exposes Media Double Standard
Another shooting in Europe yesterday, this time in Germany, shocked the media into action. When news broke of an active shooter who began killing people in front of a McDonalds and then moved inside to the Olympia Shopping Center in Munich, it looked like another ISIS attack. But something was different this time. Eyewitness reports […]
Why Jihadists Kill “Gays”
The terrorist attack by a jihadist in Orlando is not only the latest instance of an ISIS fighter killing Americans, but also a reminder that jihadists hate gays. Curiously, the organizations that fight for gay rights have been mostly silent about the dangers Islamic supremacism poses to their constituency. But then, as Douglas Murray puts […]
Will 2016 Be the Year of Abbas Diplomacy?
Any early-January look ahead to the year in international politics would be incomplete without acknowledging the boldest diplomatic move of the year just ended. That move came when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stole the spotlight from far more visible diplomats John Kerry, Mohammed Zarif and Sergey Lavrov by threatening unilateral withdrawal from the Oslo […]
Caliphate Accompli
At the G-20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, Barack Obama gave one of the most bizarre performances of his presidency. The November 16, 2015 speech was notable, first, for its gloating over imaginary successes at a time when failures are evident and, second, for the emergence of a new strategy against the Islamic State (ISIS). In […]
Are Muslims the New Jews?
In the twentieth century, the field of Middle East Studies was dominated by the graduates of only a handful of schools. Then, inspired by the horrors of 9/11, scholars from a variety of fields entered the discourse on terrorism, Islamism and the Middle East. Valuable contributions have been made by surgeons, psychiatrists, theologians and classicists. […]