Tag al-Qaeda
ISIS Is Not al-Qaeda: We Need a Different Strategy
Author Nicole A. Softness argues that ISIS is primarily, and potentially exclusively, prioritizing its territorial claims. She argues that this warrants a new strategy from the US-led counterterrorism alliance: one that treats ISIS like a violent revolutionary movement (more akin to the French and Communist Revolutions), and as a potentially legitimate state, rather than a scattered and decentralized ideological network.
The Evolution of FATA Land into a Hub of Terrorism
Author Ahmad Shah Katawazai discusses the development of terrorist elements in the largely ungoverned Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, describes its implications for regional and international security, and offers policy prescriptions to combat the continued growth of extremism in the FATA.
Tribalism in Transition: Iraq’s Sunni Tribes Before, During and After the Islamic State – Part II
In this two-part series, author Alex Simon discusses the evolution and increasingly fragmented nature of Sunni tribalism in Iraq from the era of Ottoman occupation through the rise of the so-called Islamic State, and its implications for the future of the Iraqi polity.
Tribalism in Transition: Iraq’s Sunni Tribes Before, During and After the Islamic State – Part I
In this two-part series, author Alex Simon discusses the evolution and increasingly fragmented nature of Sunni tribalism in Iraq from the era of Ottoman occupation through the rise of the so-called Islamic State, and its implications for the future of the Iraqi polity.
ISIS: The State of Terror
Richard Purcell, a SAIS alum and freelance writer covering international security affairs, reviews Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger's new book, "ISIS: The State of Terror."