• Macron Alone: Where Are France’s Allies in the Fight against Islamism?

    Martin Luther King memorably said: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” Douglas Murray writes that that reflection may now be going through the head of the French president Emmanuel Macron. Last month, following another Islamist terrorist atrocity in France, Macron delivered remarks on what he called “Islamist separatism” in France. In a major speech he warned that a portion of France’s six million Muslims were forming a “counter-society.” Macron has turned out to be interested in actions as well as words. “Throughout this whole shocking episode there remains one great question. Where are France’s friends and allies?” Murray asks, adding: “Whether or not France’s allies are scared, Macron is not.”

  • Islamism: How Terror Attacks Have Shocked France

    According to official data by Europol, France has witnessed more jihadist attacks than any other European Union member since 2014, when the Islamic State (IS) established its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Nearly 300 French citizens have died in those attacks.

  • Russia’s “Neo-Imperialism” Is a Product of Complex Factors

    Since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, there has been no shortage of commentaries, articles, papers and entire volumes by Western academics, think-tankers, former policy practitioners and journalists on how Russian President Vladimir Putin is rebuilding the Russian empire or how the Kremlin has never actually stopped building one. Still, there are some books on Russia’s external policies that I could not have missed, and Russian Imperialism Revisited by long-time Russia scholar Domitilla Sagramoso is one of them.

  • U.S. Immigration Policy Changes Expected Under Biden

    The incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden could swiftly reverse an array of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, many of which remain among the most contentious initiatives of his administration.

  • Cyberattacks and the Constitution

    The United States has one of the world’s strongest and most sophisticated capabilities to launch cyberattacks against adversaries. How does the U.S. Constitution allocate power to use that capability? And, Matthew Waxman asks, what does that allocation tell us about appropriate executive-legislative branch arrangements for setting and implementing cyber strategy?

  • The Leader Editorial: Let the Election Recount Process Play Out

    In 2000, Vice President Al Gore was losing the State of Florida - and thus the election. But rather than concede, Gore filed lawsuits and demanded selected recounts of counties more favorable to him. The Florida recounts took five weeks, and George Bush ultimately won. But no one begrudged Gore his right to review and contest the results. Donald Trump - and his volunteers and supporters - should be able to review the ballot count without being called sore losers or disrupters.

  • History Tells Us that a Contested Election Won’t Destroy American Democracy

    The United States has a long history of such contested elections. With one exception—the 1860 election, which happened in a unique context and which sparked the Civil War – theses challenges have not badly damaged the American political system. As a political scientist who studies elections, I believe that the fact that President Trump is contesting the results of the November election – and the same could have been said had Joe Biden been the one contesting the election results — American democracy will survive.

  • Nuclear War could Take a Big Bite Out of the World's Seafood

    A new study reveals the damage that a nuclear war might take on wild-caught seafood around the world, from salmon and tuna to the shrimp in shrimp cocktails. The aftermath of such a conflict could put a major strain on global food security, an international team of scientists reports. The group estimates that a nuclear war might cut the amount of seafood that fishing boats are capable of bringing in worldwide by as much as 30 percent.

  • EU to Increase Cooperation after Terrorism Summit in Paris

    EU leaders say they want to increase cooperation among member states in the fight against terror, with common databases and greater information exchange. The plan follows deadly terror attacks in France and Austria.

  • Election Security 2020: Why Did Things Go Right This Time?

    In the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the U.S. government and technology companies took several steps to safeguard election security in cyberspace, focusing their efforts on disinformation and cyberattacks. Although there were a handful of incidents, none compromised the integrity of the election, and Election Day passed without any major disruption. Why did things go right this time? A combination of government and private sector action motivated by the lessons of the 2016 and 2018 elections. Still, as the vote count continues, disinformation remains a real threat.

  • Extremism Gab Remains Extremists' Online Destination of Choice

    Two years ago, white supremacist Robert Bowers killed eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after posting antisemitic, anti-immigrant rants on Gab. Today, supported by a founder who encourages hate speech, the social media site appears to be gaining traction among far-right extremists, including white supremacists: Sixty percent of the 47 far-right extremist groups currently on Gab were created this year.

  • Why the U.K.’s Terrorism Threat Level Has Been Raised and What Happens Now

    Most parts of the UK are now living in a state of some form of lockdown. Meanwhile, however, more police are out on the streets. This is because in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Austria and France, the UK’s terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe.”

  • Driven to Extremes: Vehicle Ramming as a Terrorist Tactic

    The use of vehicle ramming attacks (VRAs) by terrorists has been increasing. A trend toward unsophisticated tactics and weapons led to a rise in vehicular attacks, perpetrated by individuals motivated by different ideologies.

  • Video of the Vienna Terrorist Attack Confirms that the Attacker Had No Help on the Scene

    The investigation into the terrorist attack in Vienna is still in full swing, said Interior Minister Karl Nehammer at a Wednesday press conference. Nehammer said that fourteen people were arrested – the arrested individuals are between 18 and 28 years of age; all have come to Austria as migrants; and a few of them do not have an Austrian citizenship. The interior minister also said police experts viewing more than 20,000 videos — more than a terabyte of data — concluded that the attacker acted alone.

  • Islamist Terrorism: Germany Is Home to More than 600 Agitators

    Islamist terrorism has struck again in Europe — this time in Vienna and Nice. Germany has also been the scene of numerous attacks, and the security forces keep tabs on hundreds of potential attackers. Deportation would have been an easy solution, but the main obstacle to deportation from Germany is that most of the people classified as agitators are German citizens.