Yaroslav Trofimov

“The Islam that is spreading through society in Africa today is the new active Islam, not the dormant, Sufi, private-life only [version]. It’s going into policy, into economy, into culture, into education. It’s going into public life,” said Hassan al-Turabi, the leading ideologue of political Islam in Africa, who hosted Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders as Sudan’s de facto ruler in the 1990s....

David Ignatius

Asian security officials say the Jakarta attack demonstrates the Islamic State's appeal in normally quiescent Muslim populations, in such nations as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Indeed, the Indonesian affiliate was the first to swear allegiance after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate in late June 2014 and changed its official name to the Islamic State....

Harun Yahya

When terror spreads to European capitals, such precautions are regarded as normal, and nobody interprets them as an attack on freedom of ideas or the right to liberty. When it comes to Turkey, however, double standards on the subject of terror immediately go into operation, and measures taken by Turkey to protect its own citizens in the fight against terror attract the most astonishing criticism....

Terrorism is a form of theatre. Terrorists are more interested in capturing attention and putting their issue at the forefront of the agenda than in the number of deaths they cause per se. The Islamic State (ISIS) pays careful attention to stagecraft. The barbaric beheadings that are broadcast and disseminated through social media are designed to shock and outrage – and thereby capture attention. By exaggerating their effect and making every terrorist act a lead story, we play into their hands....

Cleansing the bloody hand of a terrorist group through peace talks while the other hand is drenched in the blood of Afghan civilians does not mean that Afghanistan should turn a blind eye to their atrocities - even if pushed by the West or by other Muslim countries to do so.....

Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi

Many scholars and other devout Muslims believe that only misled people and non-believers would carry out such bloody terrorist acts. The question, however, still remains: How can a man willingly blow himself up and kill others at the same time? What kind of brainwashing could lead anyone, young or old, to such depravity? If we are to blame depressing economic conditions, then history is full of those who suffered similar conditions without resorting to such acts. Thus, we need a psychological analysis of terrorism....

Dr. Theodore Karasik

Geneva 3 is an opportunity for ISIS to disrupt, degrade and destroy international resolve in finding a workable solution. From ISIS’s point of view, attacking Shiite targets is a notable step in its plans for 2016. This past weekend represents the group’s own next step as part of the Geneva 3 “anti-process”. ISIS is known for its anti-social and anti-civilization approach to its brand of global politics.....

Manish Rai

Moreover it can be argued that, in some senses, the military operations have strengthened the region’s fractious jihadist organisations by forcing them to put aside their differences and work together. For example the government’s commencement of the Zarb-e-Azb Operation in North Waziristan district and supplementary operations in other districts of the tribal areas, served to soften the TTP’s differences over the leadership and to bind these groups together against a common enemy, which is the Pakistani state....

Dr Ejaz Hussain

Such an ideological and operational divide among militant organisations helped conceive categories such as the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban, and later good and bad jihadists. Factually, however, the good and bad categories are so superfluous that in the aftermath of a terror attack, the state, as well as citizens, keep wondering who the culprit was and on whose behalf they attacked.....

Murtaza Haider

In the dark days of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, visiting soccer players from Pakistan, wearing shorts, had disturbed the religious sensibilities of the authorities. As punishment, the Taliban shaved off the hair of their Pakistani guests.....

Martin Reardon

For al-Qaeda, Libya has been a hotbed of recruiting dating back to the 1990s, and one of its former leaders, Abu Yahya al-Libi, was a Libyan citizen. The eastern Libyan cities of Derna and Benghazi have historically served as solid bases of support for al-Qaeda, and remain so today....

Happymon Jacob

...Taliban seem to be intransigent on a number of fundamental issues that could come up as serious difficulties on the negotiating table. The most important issue is that the Taliban, who refer to themselves as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, continue to be unwilling to submit themselves to the Afghan Constitution and accept the term “Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” written in its preamble. Intent on creating an “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”...

Terrorism is a “mediated threat”. It requires an interpretation and definition from its audience for it to become terrorism. Certainly, the physical threat of terrorism needs no interpretation, but the fear toward it requires mediation.....

But the latest revelation about cultural vandalism raises broader questions about the way historical and spiritual monuments are treated in war zones. To make a convincing case against IS, Western governments need to demonstrate their own respect for vulnerable heritage.  Of course, IS makes a point of flouting all the accepted laws of war; that is one of its selling points in the eyes of its fanatical supporters.....

Yet Pakistan offers no evidence of Indian involvement in attacks on its territory, whereas Indian officials have offered “actionable intelligence” linking JeM to the air-base attack, and invited Pakistan to send its own investigators. Indeed, on January 13th Pakistan announced that it had rounded up members of JeM, closed some of its offices and shut down its websites....

Declan Walsh

“We have heard the rhetoric of a ‘fight back’ at all costs. But do we have a guarantee of eventual success?” Part of the answer lies in the Taliban’s continued resilience even when divided and on the run — and, more broadly, in the difficulties posed by guerrilla insurgencies throughout the region.....

...Nadlatul Ulema (NU), also the world’s largest Islamic association, with some 50 million members, released a video called “The Divine Grace of Islam Nusantara”. NU, whose stated goal is “to spread messages about a tolerant Islam in their respective countries to curb radicalism, extremism and terrorism”, was established in1926 in response to the rise of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia..... Almost one century later, this organization wants to show to the world that the IS interpretations of the Koran and Hadith are not only dangerous but wrong, and today we need a revolution of ideas......

Ban Ki-moon

Terrorist groups such as Daesh, Boko Haram and others have brazenly kidnapped young girls, systematically denied women's rights, destroyed cultural institutions, warped the peaceful values of religions, and brutally murdered thousands of innocents around the world...... 

Raed Omari

Regions and countries across the globe are now divided into: areas under ISIS control, those with large-scale presence and influence of the group and those with some ISIS presence that is expected to go downhill. Terror attacks in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia, America and Africa are either directed by or linked to ISIS or are inspired by the group.....

A family of Canadian volunteers dedicated to alleviating poverty in Africa. A group of intrepid German retirees on a tour of Turkey and the Middle East. An Iraqi who had gone to Baghdad seeking refuge from the jihadist violence of his hometown. A Canadian audiologist who had fallen in love with Indonesia. They were among the scores of people slaughtered by Islamic extremists in four countries....

Sidney Jones

Indonesia needs to engage young, computer-savvy Indonesians to develop anti-ISIS messaging on social media and online, where Mr. Naim and other radical groups are actively spreading ISIS propaganda.....

Helena Malikyar

The already staggering Afghan casualty figures have soared to new heights after the international combat mission ended a year ago. The country has suffered almost 5,000 civilian casualties only during the first half of 2015; nearly 30,000 Afghan soldiers and policemen were killed from 2009 to mid-2015. December saw a 57 percent rise in civilian casualties.....

Many Raqqa residents face an additional problem: keeping their sons from being sucked into the fighting. I’ve seen firsthand that for Raqqa’s teenagers, the Islamic State’s ideology has zero appeal. What they want is its money and its guns. Not counting bonuses, a fighter starts out earning about $200 a month — more than a family needs to live (a civilian like Saeed struggles to make $150). He gets additional money for wives, children, slaves and provisions, raising his potential monthly income to more than $500......

Tim Arango

On Facebook, Iraqis have been sharing photos of loved ones lost, like a boy named Ali, who is shown holding a soccer trophy. “He is my schoolmate,” a friend wrote. “He went with his family for shopping to prepare for his brother’s wedding. They were all killed. I won’t forget you, Ali.”....

'Blogging' and 'blogger' have come to occupy various, curious frames. Today, the very mention of the words conjures notions of atheism, virulent anti-religious sentiments, religious propaganda and hate speech. It evokes emotions ranging from discomfort to anxiety to outrage. Yet, at least half our population does not know what a blog is, what it represents and what it can do.....