Author Archive
Ideas
The Idea of ISIS Will Outlive the Caliphate
Despite claiming responsibility for attacks like the one in London, the group is dying. It will retain the ability to inspire.
Threats
Trump's Travel Ban Will Not 'Help' ISIS Recruitment
The trope posits an overly simplistic understanding of jihadist radicalization, and demeans Muslims in general.
Ideas
ISIS in the Caribbean
The spread of Salafi Islam and a government’s blind eye toward recruiting has helped lead more Trinidadians to fight for ISIS than any other country in the Western hemisphere.
Ideas
Let’s Not Give Suicide Bombers So Much Credit—Sometimes They Have No Strategy
The Brussels attackers may have been responding to territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, but that's not the only possible scenario.
Ideas
How ISIS Appeals to Converts — and Ex-Criminals
Understanding both sides is key to figuring out how to slow recruitment.
Ideas
The Lost Pilgrims of the Islamic State
Like past pilgrimages to China and the Soviet Union, the migration of Westerners to the Islamic State group points to the tragic intersection of estrangement and utopian hope.
Threats
It's Nearly Impossible to Understand What Motivates Terrorists
Asking how people join terrorist groups is more worthwhile than asking why.
Threats
The US, ISIS and the War of Narratives That's Being Lost
It's no secret that countering ISIS messaging requires telling a better story. So why hasn't the U.S. come up with one yet?
Threats
Why Each ISIS Video Is More Horrifying Than the Last
The terrorist group has committed many atrocities, but it focuses its propaganda power on productions that will shock the world.
Threats
The Real Reason ISIS Takes Hostages and Beheads Them
From the outside, the group’s actions look insane. But the brutality is meant to provoke a wider war—a war that ISIS is convinced it will win. By Simon Cottee
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