Recent Posts

Al-Qaeda’s Virulent Strain in Iraq

My friend Arthur telephoned me one summer morning in 2003, when I had just returned from Iraq, which had fallen into U.S. hands that April. Arthur was head of the refugee program at the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights. A decade earlier, he and I had travelled together to Iraq, …

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Boko Haram And Female Suicide Bombers – Analysis

With the Nigerian government confirming the death of Abu Bakr Shekau, the notorious leader of Boko Haram, in late August 2021, the future of the terrorist group looks bleak with its strength reportedly “significantly weakened” in the recent months.1 Its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) which has …

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Religious Power Tends To Corrupt – OpEd

Back in early May of 2020 Israel’s Interior minister urged ‘soul-searching’ in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community citing the very high coronavirus infection rate [60-70% of the sick in the entire country were ultra-Orthodox whereas only 10-12 percent of the general population is ultra-Orthodox]. Now in early September 2021only some 20 …

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Russia-Belarus Zapad Military Exercise Opens New Fronts

This year’s joint military exercise organised by Russia and Belarus on NATO’s eastern border is an unprecedented attempt to bully the West, in a new context with fresh tactics, argues Polish security expert Anna Maria Dyner. The culminating stage of the Zapad 2021 joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise will take place …

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