• GW Program on Extremism expands research, expertise

    Since its launch in June 2015, the George Washington University’s Program on Extremism has contributed research and analysis on violent and non-violent extremism. GW notes the program’s report ISIS in America: From Retweets to Raqqa has been used by policymakers and law enforcement as a trusted source. Now in its second year, program leadership says they will continue to grow as a leading resource of expertise and research on extremism by expanding with new initiatives and hires.

  • ISIS’s second-in-command killed in Syria

    In the most serious blow to ISIS leadership yet, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the Islamist group’s second-in-command, was killed by a coalition airstrike. The U.S.-led coalition has been systematically going after ISIS leadership. In the last six months airstrikes killed the organization’s No. 4 — finance minister Haji Iman — and No. 3, the group’s defense minister, Omar al-Shishani.

  • FBI director calls for “adult conversation” on encryption – and the privacy-security balance

    James Comey, the FBI director, has again said that end-to-end encryption on digital devices makes it impossible for his agency to investigate crimes and acts of terrorism— and called for an “adult conversation” with the manufacturers of these devices. Widespread encryption built into smartphones was “making more and more of the room that we are charged to investigate dark,” Comey said at a cybersecurity symposium.

  • Practical guide on how to counter extremists’ narratives in South East Asia

    On Tuesday, the Hedayah Institute launched its latest compendium and report titled Undermining Violent Extremist Narratives in South East Asia. The report contains practical advice for civil society organizations and practitioners to develop effective narratives that counter the approaches of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah, and other violent extremists in the region. The guide also contains clear examples of counter-messages, case studies, and links to videos and Web sites that are relevant to supporting the development of counter-narratives.

  • Former senior Obama official: Inaction in Syria result of desire to keep Iran deal alive

    The White House’s failure to stop the ongoing slaughter perpetrated by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad stems from President Barack Obama’s “desire to accommodate Iran” so that last year’s nuclear deal will extend past his administration, the president’s former top Syria adviser charged.

  • A momentous peace deal with the FARC – so what next for Colombia?

    After more than fifty years of armed conflict, and four years of negotiations, the Colombian government and the leftist guerrilla group, the FARC, have reached a final peace agreement. The historic deal looks set to bring to an end the longest running war of recent history. The agreement is cause for huge celebration, but an official end to war with the FARC is only the start of the road to peace. Both ex-guerrillas, and military personnel who may have to leave the armed forces due to budget cuts, will now face the difficulties of a transition into civilian life. Reintegration programs are crucial not only for former combatants but also for those who have served their country for years. Securing peace therefore requires the coordination of all security-related government institutions across ministries, in partnership with the UN, and in line with the protection needs of civilians. This joint effort can boost confidence in tackling both immediate and long-term security challenges, paving the way for the Colombian people to vote “yes” to peace.

  • Up to 15,000 ISIS victims buried in 72 mass graves found in Syria, Iraq

    The vast areas in Syria and Iraq which came under the control of ISIS in 2014 are dotted with grim reminders of the Islamist group’s brutality. The AP reports that a comprehensive survey by the news agency, using satellite imagery, excavations, mapping, and survivors testimony, has identified seventy-two mass graves in Syria and Iraq – containing up to 15,000 bodies — and that many more such graves will be discovered as the U.S.-led coalition is pushing ISIS back and shrinking the territory under the group’s control.

  • Iraqi government-backed militias recruiting children

    Iraqi government-backed militias have recruited children from at least one displaced persons camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to fight against Islamic State forces. “The recruitment of children as fighters for the Mosul operation should be a warning sign for the Iraqi government,” said a senior children’s rights researcher. “The government and its foreign allies need to take action now, or children are going to be fighting on both sides in Mosul.”

  • How victims of terror are remembered distorts perceptions of safety

    From 2002 through 2015, eighty Americans were killed in terrorist attacks. The fifty-seven killed in 2016 almost equals the total of the previous thirteen years. In 2013, the most recent year for which there are comprehensive statistics from the FBI, 13,716 Americans were murdered, the equivalent of an Orlando massacre every thirty-two hours. In 2014, 32,675 Americans died in car accidents. In other words, the fifty-seven Americans who died in terrorist attacks in 2016 were equal to 0.42 percent of all murders and 0.17 percent of all traffic deaths. Why do the terrorist attacks get so much media coverage? Why is fear of terrorism a major issue in the current election? The reason: victims of domestic terrorism are viewed as casualties in the War on Terror. A relatively few deaths thus become manifestations of a war come home to America. Those few highly publicized deaths provoke levels of fear and anger that make it difficult to think clearly about the actual causes of these crimes and conceive of governmental policies that actually might make prevent future attacks.

  • Two Americas: U.S. wars take uneven toll

    In today’s wars, Americans who die or are wounded in battle are disproportionately coming from poorer parts of the country. By analyzing over 500,000 American combat casualties from the Second World War through Iraq and Afghanistan, researchers found growing socioeconomic inequality in military sacrifice.

  • Looking from space for nuclear detonations

    Sandia has been in the business of nuclear detonation detection for more than fifty years, starting with the 1963 launch of the first of twelve U.S. Vela satellites to detect atmospheric nuclear testing and verify compliance with the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and subsequently the Threshold Test Ban Treaty of 1974. That marked the start of the U.S. Nuclear Detonation Detection System that supports treaty monitoring. The Global Burst Detection (GBD) system launched 5 February from Cape Canaveral aboard the 70th Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite. The GBD looks for nuclear detonations around the world, offering real-time information about potential activity to U.S. policymakers. The launch was the 12th and final of the Block IIF (GPSIIF) series of GPS satellites in medium Earth orbit.

  • Europol deploys 200 counterterrorism officers to Greece to thwart ISIS infiltration

    Rob Wainwright, the chief of Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, said that 200 counter terrorism officers will be deployed to the Greek islands within weeks in an effort to thwart a “strategic”-level campaign by ISIS to infiltrate terrorists into Europe. The new task force will be deployed alongside Greek border guards and use technologies developed by British security forces at Heathrow to help spot potential terrorists.

  • Mayors of French coastal towns refuse to rescind burkini ban despite Friday’s court ruling

    The majority of French mayors who have issued bans on the wearing of burkini on municipal beaches  are refusing to lift the restrictions even though France’s highest administrative court on Friday ruled that prohibiting the ban would be a “serious and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms.” The burkini bans have plunged France into an intense debate about secularism, freedom of religion, and how best to help integrate Muslims into French life and culture.

  • Ex-Shin Bet chief: Hezbollah “learning to fight on a large scale” in Syria, threatening Israel

    The Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah is gaining valuable experience while “learning to fight on a large scale” in Syria, a former Shin Bet chief told a visiting delegation of U.S. congressional advisers last Monday. Avi Dichter, currently the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Hezbollah in Syria is “learning to fight on a large scale, in platoons and battalion, while using sophisticated weaponry and heavy, precise arms that they receive from Iran.” These new capabilities will ensure that the “next round” in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel will be much different.

  • Israeli tech company’s spyware turns UAE activist’s iPhone into a self-tracking device

    Two University of Toronto researchers have uncovered an iPhone-based attack on Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent United Arab Emirates human rights defender. The attack employed spyware produced by NSO Group — an Israeli technology company founded by former members of Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s electronic surveillance branch – which is sold to government for the purpose of spying on their citizens.