Category: Political Islam

‘Countering violent extremism’ – challenges and responses

     

Violent extremism is caused primarily by religious ideology more than racism, poverty, military interventions by foreign governments and human rights abuses, according to a new global poll published this week… Read more »

Iran pursuing China Model?

     

At 77, and with at least one hospitalization in recent years for prostate cancer, Ayatollah Khamenei appears determined, while he still has full power, to make the changes essential for… Read more »

How to de-glorify and discredit ISIS

     

How can a genocidal and an apocalyptic group like ISIS become a beacon of hope for segments of excluded and marginalized communities in the West and beyond?  asks Kawa Hassan (above),… Read more »

Morocco: PJD electoral success highlights new breed of Islamism

     

In last Friday’s legislative elections in Morocco, the ruling Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD, left) again secured a plurality, but while the elections were hailed as proof of… Read more »

Russia dreams of Turkey pivoting to ‘authoritarian international’

     

Turkey on Tuesday warned of rising anti-American sentiment and risks to a migrant deal with the European Union, ramping up the rhetoric in the face of Western alarm over the… Read more »

Failed coup promotes Erdogan’s ‘narrative of an Islamist defense of democracy’

     

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always had ambitions of surpassing Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, as the country’s most consequential figure. Now, a failed coup may allow… Read more »

Post-putsch Turkish democracy still vulnerable

     

In a dispute between NATO allies, Turkey is demanding that the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen (left), a Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric, to face charges of engineering a coup attempt. But… Read more »

Creating counter-narratives to counter violent extremism

     

  The concept of creating counter-narratives in order to push back against extremist recruitment and propaganda has become well established in recent years, notes a new report from the Institute… Read more »

ISIS ‘metastasizing’ – losing territory and social media presence

     

  The Islamic State group lost 12% of the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria – an area the size of Ireland – in the first half of 2016,… Read more »

New Forms of Democratic Citizenship in MENA

     

The Arab Spring opened a window of opportunity to revise democracy support in a direction that better reflects local interpretations of citizenship and rights, but external actors have yet to… Read more »