Science & Tech

How Facial Recognition Might Stop the Next Brussels

Keeping terrorists away from crowded spaces requires recognizing them before they get there, which is no easy task.

Threats

After Brussels, Will Voters Demand Foreign-Policy Experience?

Trump wants waterboarding, Cruz wants to ‘secure’ Muslim neighborhoods in wake of attacks.

Threats

What We Know About the Brussels Attacks

Dozens were killed in bombings at an airport and subway station, prompting outrage and disbelief across an already-shocked Europe.

Threats

How Syria’s Uprising Spawned a Jihad

Five years ago, the opposition to Bashar al-Assad was mostly peaceful and secular. What happened?

Science & Tech

The Pentagon Wants to Buy That Bomb You’re Building in the Garage

DARPA will pay tinkerers to weaponize off-the-shelf items — in hopes of defending against such hacks.

Ideas

The US Government Is Secretly Huddling With Tech Firms to Fight Extremism

A coalition of civil rights groups wants to be included in the closed-door meetings to keep the feds in check.

Threats

Why Colombia's War Against the FARC Isn't Over Yet

After decades of violence, peace may be on the horizon for 2016.

Threats

Kenya Wants Its Own Guantanamo

Critics say the plan will only alienate citizens with ties to Somalia, where the militant group al-Shabab is based.

Policy

Obama Confronts the Politics of Religion and Terrorism

The president preached inclusion and hit back at anti-Muslim rhetoric during his first appearance at a mosque.

Ideas

Want an Alternative to ISIS? Look to Tunisia

The Islamic State offers a false choice between dictatorship and extremism. Tunisia proves there’s a better way.

Threats

Al-Qaeda Is Still Exploiting Weak Governments in West Africa with Deadly Results

The group has targeted Algeria, Niger, Mali and now Burkina Faso—killing people and carrying out kidnappings for ransom, all to stop what they perceive as the corrupt influence of the West.

Threats

Indonesia Blames ISIS for Suicide Bombs in Jakarta

A Muslim country heretofore largely unaffected by the Islamic State is hit by a series of bombings.

Ideas

The Right Way to Fight Boko Haram — and How the U.S. Should Help

Nigeria’s new president is wrong to separate his terrorism problem from his corruption problem.

Ideas

China Is On A Collision Course with ISIS

Bejing’s ambitious plan to build links to central Asia and Europe will demand a better counter-terrorism policy.

Threats

Nigeria Just Arrested Its Former Defense Chief for Looting Anti-Boko Haram Funds

If the allegations are true, it would help explain the country’s gross under-resourcing of government security services.

Ideas

Why Indonesia is Immune to ISIS

Can lessons from countries like Indonesia be applied to volatile countries in the Middle East?

Threats

African Extremist Group Al-Shebab Shows Trump in Recruitment Video

Video of the GOP frontrunner appeared between old clips of now-deceased al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

Threats

‘Call of Jihad’: ISIS Turns to Video Games, Hollywood to Reach Recruits

This video shows how ISIS is increasingly appropriating images of western pop culture, portraying terror as glamorous.

Ideas

2016 Predictions: A Look Ahead at the Future of War

New America polled former Navy SEALs, Pentagon officials, technologists, historians — and here’s what they expect.

Threats

The Global Conflicts to Watch in 2016

Concerns about the Middle East, and especially Syria, have displaced other threats.