• Protecting Australians from Convicted Terrorists

    From 9/11 and the Bali bombings, to the rise of ISIL and the threat of issue-motivated violence from the likes of white supremacists, a comprehensive approach is needed, including education, prevention, punishment and rehabilitation.

  • Germany's RAF Terrorism — Many Unanswered Questions

    Even today, talk of the Red Army Faction (RAF) often provokes a heated debate in Germany. More than a quarter of a century has passed since the terrorist organization announced its dissolution. Nonetheless, there are those who are still grieving, victims who are still injured, RAF members who are still on the run — and many unanswered questions.

  • West African Juntas Set Up Joint Anti-Terrorism Force

    Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are planning on a joint force to “overcome the security challenges” facing the Sahel countries. The three West African neighbors are located in the Sahel region and have all seen coups unseat their civilian governments. They have also been mired in a decade-long conflict involving Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the so-called “Islamic State.”

  • Houthi Attacks in Red Sea Threaten Internet Infrastructure

    The recent attack on the cargo ship Rubymar by the Iran-backed Houthis caused the crew to drop anchor, which damaged undersea internet cables, the US has said. Could the vital infrastructure now become a regular target?

  • Germany Confronts Extremism in Sahel Region

    On her visit to Burkina Faso, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze wants to show a willingness to speak with the ruling military junta. In Benin, she’ll support Germany’s efforts to boost trust in state structures.

  • Neo-Nazi Music Concerts: Incubators of Far-Right Extremism

    Music’s role within the far-right extremist culture is critical to understanding why concerts and musical gatherings have retained their prominence and have attracted an increasing number of recruits to the racially divisive ideological belief and value system. Such concerts feature bands who promote a bigoted and racist ideology, including one of the most notorious sub-genres within the black metal musical arena, i.e., National Socialist Black Metal or NSBM.

  • Untangling False Claims About Ashkenazi Jews, Khazars, and Israel 

    There has been a noticeable rise in antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the weeks and months following Hamas’s brutal assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. One of the most insidious claims used to discredit both Jews and Israel is that Ashkenazi Jews (i.e., Jews who trace their ancestry to Northern and Eastern Europe) have no historical or genetic relationship to Jewish antiquity in the land of Israel—making Jews “colonizers” with no legitimate claim to the land that makes up the Jewish state.

  • Far-Left Fugitive German Terrorist Arrested

    The RAF (Red Army Faction) is the official name of the leftist Baader-Meinhof gang, which terrorized West Germany from the late-1960s to the early 1990s. RAF member Daniela Klette, 65, was on the run for more than 30 years. She was arrested in Berlin over the weekend.

  • How People Get Sucked into Misinformation Rabbit Holes – and How to Get Them Out

    As misinformation and radicalization rise, it’s tempting to look for something to blame: the internet, social media personalities, sensationalized political campaigns, religion, or conspiracy theories. Researchers found that radicalization is a process of increasingly intense stages, and only a small number of people progress to the point where they commit violent acts. The misinformation radicalization process is a pathway driven by human emotions rather than the information itself – and this understanding may be a first step in finding solutions.

  • Murder and Extremism in the U.S.

    Each year, people in the United States are killed by individuals with ties to extreme movements and ideologies. In recent years, extremists from the far right (such as white nationalists or sovereign citizens), the far left (such as Black nationalists or anarchists), Islamist extremist movements, and other, more obscure causes or groups have all committed murders in the United States.

  • Charting the Future of Maritime Security

    The United States is a maritime nation surrounded by 95,000 miles of shoreline. Changes in economics, geopolitics, society, demography, or other factors, pose varied and evolving threats to the country’s maritime space – its waterways, ports of entry, and coastline borders.

  • How Was Israel Caught Off-Guard?

    There were several reasons for Israel’s intelligence and operational failures on 7 October. But the context within which these failures occurred, what Ariel Levite calls “the intelligence-policy nexus,” was created by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For over a decade, he helped strengthen Hamas as part of his effort to prevent the emergence of a moderate and pragmatic Palestinian leadership. And, throughout 2023, he caused deep and bitter divisions in Israeli society and military by pursuing a regime-change legislative agenda aiming to hollow out Israel’s democracy. He was repeatedly warned by Israel’s military and intelligence leaders that both policies were weakening Israel and the IDF and making Israel more vulnerable to attack, but he rejected these warnings.

  • Iran's 'Axis of Resistance': Different Groups, Same Goals

    Iran’s so-called axis of resistance is a loose network of proxies, Tehran-backed militant groups, and an allied state actor. The network is a key element of Tehran’s strategy of deterrence against perceived threats from the United States, regional rivals, and primarily Israel.

  • The Israel-Hamas War and Resurgent Jihadist Threats to Europe and the United States

    The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli response have had dangerous echoes around the world. Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and unaffiliated terrorists have seized on the attacks in their propaganda and to conduct, or attempt to conduct, attacks.

  • Hamas Is Returning to Northern Gaza Because Israel Has No Plan for the “Day After”

    Israel’s lack of coherence with regard to the future administrative governing of the Gaza Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to articulate a “day after” vision for Gaza – he is worried that the far-right elements in his coalition would bolt if he allowed the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza – have resulted in Hamas’s assuming, again, the role of governing Gaza. Rob Geist Pinfold writes that in the absence of any clear political vision for capitalizing on its military successes, Israel is allowing Hamas, which is the only party that is willing and able to provide these essential services, to assume many of its pre-7 October responsibilities.