After the Paris massacre, European governments should resist narratives of civilizational conflict and push for a ceasefire in the Syrian war.
Charlie Hebdo: Middle East Blowback?
read more
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
Why Are Women Joining the Islamic State?
For some women in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State offers something no one else has given them before: power.
Our National Security State Knows Everything about You but Nothing about the World
Americans are trading away their privacy, civil liberties, and billions of tax dollars for an intelligence complex that never seems to know what’s going on in the world.
Barack Obama and the Will to Fight
Obama is more than willing to stand up against the Islamic State. Too bad he wasn’t willing to stand up to his hawkish critics.
Here’s Everything Wrong with the White House’s War on the Islamic State
The Obama administration’s war plans in Iraq and Syria are illegal, ill-conceived, and destined to fail. Here’s what the U.S.—and you—can do instead.
Six Steps Short of War to Beat ISIS
Weakening ISIS requires eroding the support it relies on from tribal leaders, military figures, and ordinary Iraqi Sunnis. Here’s how to do it without bombs.
The Plague
The twin plagues of ISIS and Ebola thrive on the breakdown of the existing order.
The Smiling Face of the Islamic State
IS, formerly ISIS, elicits cult-like behavior in its followers and those it conquers.
Bin Laden’s Legacy: Giving Muslims Religious License to Kill Each Other
According to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri’s interpretation of Sunni Islamic law, Muslims who support a tyrannical regime or an occupying force are fair game for al Qaeda.
ISIS Leader a Product of Zarqawi and US Detention
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, served five years in a U.S.-run prison camp.