Author Archive
Ideas
Iran Has Far More Coronavirus Cases Than It Is Letting On
The surprising number of Iranian government officials succumbing to COVID-19 offers a hint that the disease is far more widespread than the official statistics indicate.
Ideas
Trump Wants His Fighters Unbound by the Laws of War. That's Not Going to Help Us
One reason more than 80 countries allied to fight ISIS is that they flagrantly ignored these laws. Now we do too.
Ideas
ISIS Lost Its Land. Then It Began to Lose Its Ability to Inspire.
As with Osama bin Laden, the most intriguing fact about Baghdadi’s assassination was its location, deep in what was considered enemy territory.
Ideas
ISIS Is Gloating
The best one could say about America’s abandonment of the Kurds is that they should have known we would sell them out eventually.
Ideas
John Bolton Will Hold This Grudge
His dismissal by tweet came after an unusually long prelude of disrespect, both by President Trump and by favored allies.
Ideas
I Wrote to John Walker Lindh. He Wrote Back.
The American jihadist thanked me for my interest in the Islamic State.
Policy
Will John Bolton Bring on Armageddon—Or Stave It Off?
The national security adviser could be our best hope for protecting the world from Donald Trump’s impulses.
Threats
What the Attack in New York Revealed About the Islamic State's Supporters
As ISIS loses territory, the greatest danger remains that more competent fighters will return home.
Ideas
The Bloody End of the Islamic State's Utopian Dream
The fall of Raqqa this week completed the slow-motion demolition of the world’s only utopian movement worthy of the name.
Threats
What We Still Don’t Know About the Islamic State’s Foreign Fighters
The biggest concern is what happens when they come back home.
Ideas
ISIS Ends Its Separate Peace With Turkey
The politics of the attack and its avowal make the Istanbul massacre much more pivotal than many others.
Featured eBooks
Ideas
The American Leader in the Islamic State
How a military brat from Texas became a devoted jihadist.
Policy
Trump is Wrong, ISIS Doesn't Want Rome
Trump's claim that Rome is 'ISIS’s ultimate trophy' deserves correction, just in case he thinks it’s true.
Threats