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Editor’s Note: Foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria are a bit of an obsession for those of us at the Foreign Policy Essay. In this contribution, we’re pleased to go deep on the problem in Scandinavia—a sur...
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That counterterrorism instruments often fail is no surprise—terrorists are tough targets, after all. At times, however, these instruments can actually backfire. Such “blowback” can take many forms and is...
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Editor’s Note: Political groups representing ethnic, religious, or other minorities have a range of options for how to engage with the state, from nonviolent tactics such as protests and strikes to viole...
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In January 2014, two French teenage boys ran away from their homes in Toulouse in search of adventure. Like a few hundred other young Frenchmen and over 2,000 Europeans, they looked for that adventure in...
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Editor’s Note: Under President Xi Jinping, China appears more aggressive and dictatorial: a worrisome combination as China’s wealth makes it more influential and helps it build a stronger military.
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Editor's Note: Sanctions and other economic tools are increasingly the foreign policy instruments of first resort. They seem to harness U.S. economic might and convey strength while avoiding the human an...
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Editor’s Note: The savage fighting in Syria and now Iraq seems to grow worse every month. As the U.S. role in the conflict grows, so too does the need to understand the motivations of the fighters, inclu...
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The Arab world’s foreign fighter problem makes the West’s concerns seem minor. Specific numbers should be treated with suspicion, but the current estimate is that there are roughly 15,000 foreign fighter...
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Editor’s Note: The return of U.S. military advisors to Iraq and U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant have dashed hopes that the United States would be able to put the latest c...
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Editor’s Note: As the United States goes to war in Iraq and Syria, President Obama and senior administration officials have repeatedly stressed the threat the Islamic State poses and emphasized the organ...
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Editor’s Note: The recent killing of Al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane is only one of the most recent U.S. attempts to disrupt Al Qaeda and associated movements by targeting their leaders. Although the...
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Lost in the hubbub over the rise of the Islamic State and the Obama administration’s move to war in Iraq was the Al Qaeda core’s declaration of a new affiliate in South Asia—long a home to jihadist activ...
