Terrorism

The use of indiscriminate violence against civilians and soft targets causes immense human suffering, sows fear within societies, damages public trust in authorities, and can produce extremist responses. Whether motivated by political, religious, economic, or social grievances, the use of terror by state-aligned and non-state actors poses an elevated threat for societies around the world as it can be perpetuated by both sophisticated international networks and single “lone-wolf” assailants. To prevent terrorism and limit its effects, governments need to adopt an array of solutions from dismantling terrorist networks to addressing the root grievances which fuel terrorist ideology.

Content

Issue Brief

Apr 27, 2015

Reimagining Pakistan’s militia policy

By Yelena Biberman

If ever a turning point seemed inevitable in Pakistan’s militia policy, it was in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre in December 2014. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed 152 people, 133 of them children, in the bloodiest terrorist attack in Pakistan’s history. The carnage sparked an unprecedented national dialogue about the costs and contradictions of […]

Arms Control Conflict

Issue Brief

Apr 27, 2015

Defeating the jihadists in Syria: Competition before confrontation

By Faysal Itani

Since August 2014, the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has successfully inflicted casualties on ISIS and weakened its oil revenues. However, the same efforts have also accelerated the rise of the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, and the near-collapse of nationalist rebel forces. In “Defeating the Jihadists in […]

Syria Terrorism

In the News

Jan 6, 2015

Biberman in The Washington Post: In Pakistan, domestic threats begin to overshadow India

By Atlantic Council

Extremism India
REUTERS/Stringer

AfricaSource

Dec 4, 2014

Boko Haram Q & A

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group that has a foothold in northern Nigeria, has begun to consolidate control over large swathes of territory threatening the stability of Nigeria and its neighbors. The militants have resorted to using female suicide bombers as they ramp up their fight against the Nigerian government ahead of elections in February. […]

Conflict Nigeria

AfricaSource

Nov 17, 2014

Boko Haram’s big week: Why we should care

By J. Peter Pham

Last week was a good week for the militant group Boko Haram and much less so for Nigeria and its neighbors, although one would be hard pressed to tell it from the relative nonchalance with which significant developments in the West African country’s fight against the brutal insurgency have been greeted not only by American […]

Conflict Nigeria

Commanders Series

Nov 10, 2014

The Islamic State and beyond: US military strategy in the Middle East

By Atlantic Council

“We have been fighting extremists for over thirteen years now, and we are nowhere near finished,” CENTCOM commander says at the Atlantic Council In a September 10 address to the nation, US President Barack Obama outlined a four-pronged strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) that included a […]

Conflict Middle East

Issue Brief

Oct 27, 2014

Reforming Tunisia’s troubled security sector

By Bassem Bouguerra

In a new Atlantic Council issue brief titled “Reforming Tunisia’s Troubled Security Sector,” Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East nonresident fellow and security sector reform activist Bassem Bouguerra explains the barriers to reforming the North African country’s troubled security apparatus and offers possible paths forward for reform. Rather than undermining government efforts to counter […]

Extremism North Africa

Art of Future Warfare

Oct 1, 2014

The future of unknown conflict

By Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council introduced Dave Antony as a nonresident fellow for the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security on October 1st, where he will be working on the “Art of Future War” project. The event, moderated by August Cole, the project’s director, featured everything from 3D printers to flying drones which served as the backdrop […]

Conflict Security & Defense

AfricaSource

Sep 8, 2014

Africa’s Islamic State?

By J. Peter Pham

Even as, coming out of the annual NATO summit in Wales, the United States and its allies are promising to ratchet up their response to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, another militant group, Boko Haram, is rapidly gaining ground in Africa, achieving many of the same operational and strategic successes that have made […]

Extremism Nigeria

Event Recap

Apr 2, 2013

The African state and the failure of US counterterrorism initiatives in Africa

By Africa Center

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a luncheon presentation by Hussein Solomon, senior professor in the department of political science at the University of the Free State in South Africa, on “The African State and the Failure of US Counterterrorism Initiatives in Africa.” Drawing upon his recent research on Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia, among […]

Sahel Security & Defense

Experts