Al-Qaeda

According to Institute for Economics & Peace, Terrorism gets worse as global conflicts drive risk of new wave

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 29, 2024

Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.

Key Points: 
  • Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.
  • The Global Terrorism Index 2024 (GTI) highlights that terrorism remains a serious global threat, with total deaths from terrorism increasing by 22% to 8,352 in 2023, now at their highest since 2017.
  • The GTI is produced by the leading international think tank the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) and has been published annually for the last eleven years.
  • The report ranks 163 countries (99.7 % of the world's population) according to the impact of terrorism.

According to Institute for Economics & Peace, Terrorism gets worse as global conflicts drive risk of new wave

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 29, 2024

Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.

Key Points: 
  • Over 90% of terrorist attacks and 98% of terrorism deaths in 2023 occurred in conflict zones, underscoring the strong link between conflict and terrorism.
  • The Global Terrorism Index 2024 (GTI) highlights that terrorism remains a serious global threat, with total deaths from terrorism increasing by 22% to 8,352 in 2023, now at their highest since 2017.
  • The GTI is produced by the leading international think tank the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) and has been published annually for the last eleven years.
  • The report ranks 163 countries (99.7 % of the world's population) according to the impact of terrorism.

A brief history of Dearborn, Michigan – the first Arab-American majority city in the US

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 12, 2024

Dearborn, Michigan, is a center of Arab American cultural, economic, and political life.

Key Points: 
  • Dearborn, Michigan, is a center of Arab American cultural, economic, and political life.
  • It’s home to several of the country’s oldest and most influential mosques, the Arab American National Museum, dozens of now-iconic Arab bakeries and restaurants, and a vibrant and essential mix of Arab American service and cultural organizations.
  • The city became the first Arab-majority city in the U.S. in 2023, with roughly 55% of the city’s 110,000 residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African ancestry on the 2023 census.

Ford and Dearborn are in many ways synonymous

  • Dearborn owes much of its growth to automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who began building his famous River Rouge Complex in 1917.
  • While most early 20th-century Arab immigrants to the United States were Christians, those who moved to Dearborn in the 1920s were mainly Muslims from southern Lebanon.
  • Fleeing civil war in Yemen and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, these new Arab immigrants breathed new life into Dearborn.
  • By the 1980s, this mix of first- and second-generation Arab Americans had begun to spill into other neighborhoods in East Dearborn.

Overcoming discrimination

  • Arab American activists responded by pushing for more city services in East Dearborn and running for office.
  • Republican Suzanne Sareini was the first Arab American elected to the City Council in 1990.
  • It took another 20 years, when Arabs became the plurality of the population, before other Arab Americans joined Sareini on the council.
  • Following the al-Qaeda attacks of 9/11, Dearborn became a target for anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, government surveillance, and harassment.

New leadership

  • Hammoud objected publicly to the congressional censure of Tlaib in 2023 following her remarks about the violence in the Gaza Strip.
  • He also called for an unequivocal cease-fire in Gaza at a time when other Democratic leaders were silent.
  • Dearborn often becomes a topic of global media interest during election years or at times of conflict in the Middle East.


Nothing to disclose. Amny Shuraydi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

‘America is the mother of terrorism’: why the Houthis’ new slogan is important for understanding the Middle East

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 12, 2024

As their attacks have intensified, the group’s slogan (or sarkha, meaning “scream”) has also gained notoriety.

Key Points: 
  • As their attacks have intensified, the group’s slogan (or sarkha, meaning “scream”) has also gained notoriety.
  • Banners bearing the sarkha dot the streets in areas of Yemen under Houthi control and are brandished by supporters at their rallies.
  • Read more:
    Why US strikes will only embolden the Houthis, not stop their attacks on ships in the Red Sea

Terror groups as a tool of the state

  • Some experts argue this may create more “terrorists” than it kills.
  • However, there are other layers to these slogans that are less intuitively understood by a Western audience.
  • For many in the region, groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic State function, in part, as “tools” that Western-backed authoritarian leaders use to maintain their power.


releasedal-Qaeda prisoners so they could regroup
facilitated al-Qaeda attacks against local and foreign targets
misdirected US strikes to kill political opponents rather than al-Qaeda leaders.

  • As a result, many Yemenis wouldn’t view al-Qaeda or Islamic State as being completely separate from those in charge of the country.
  • In the West, these groups are framed as rebels seeking to overturn the state.
  • But across the region, many believe these relationships defy simple categories like “state versus insurgent” or “friend versus enemy” because terror groups can be both at once.

Why the West’s policies are backfiring

  • When I asked residents about the this, they appeared to see the statement as a banal declaration of fact.
  • (Like the banners bearing the sarkha, the murals used a red barbed-wire font for the word “America”.)
  • Of course, the violence the Houthis use to sustain their own power is an irony that should not be lost.
  • Even so, their messaging taps into widespread views about the drivers of regional violence that some Western observers have long dismissed.


Sarah G. Phillips receives funding from the Australian Research Council (FT200100539). She is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies (Yemen).

HX5 Encrypted explain how a simple check can stop a $240 Billion money laundering scandal

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 27, 2023

Andy Parr, the company's, founder explains what checks HX5 do to stop money laundering.

Key Points: 
  • Andy Parr, the company's, founder explains what checks HX5 do to stop money laundering.
  • This is because while those places must adhere to international standards in place to stop money laundering, they rarely use them to do so.
  • The US regulators have eventually caught up with Binance and fined them over $4 billion for facilitating money laundering on an industrial scale globally.
  • The lax way Binance have implemented (or not dependent on your viewpoint) money laundering controls has been an issue for some time.

HX5 Encrypted explain how a simple check can stop a $240 Billion money laundering scandal

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 27, 2023

Andy Parr, the company's, founder explains what checks HX5 do to stop money laundering.

Key Points: 
  • Andy Parr, the company's, founder explains what checks HX5 do to stop money laundering.
  • This is because while those places must adhere to international standards in place to stop money laundering, they rarely use them to do so.
  • The US regulators have eventually caught up with Binance and fined them over $4 billion for facilitating money laundering on an industrial scale globally.
  • The lax way Binance have implemented (or not dependent on your viewpoint) money laundering controls has been an issue for some time.

Terrorism: Med-Or report, jihadism silent but not dead

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 9, 2023

ROME, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The jihadist threat may be silent, but that does not mean it is dead.

Key Points: 
  • ROME, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The jihadist threat may be silent, but that does not mean it is dead.
  • This is what emerges from the Special Report issued by the Med-Or Foundation, titled ‘The Silent Enemy: Presence and Evolution of the Jihadist Threat in the Broader Mediterranean’, presented at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome.
  • […] The other incubator is Africa, where we have all the national variants of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State”.
  • These “are places where terrorism can thrive, and we must pay attention, reflect, and above all, work together.

A reflexive act of military revenge burdened the US − and may do the same for Israel

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas.

Key Points: 
  • In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas.
  • On that same day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went further, stating, “We will wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the earth.
  • The immediate goals were to force the Taliban from power and destroy al-Qaida.
  • Very little thought or resources were put into what happened after those goals were attained.
  • That’s what happened in Afghanistan, and that is what could happen in Gaza.

A war of weak results

    • The U.S. invasion toppled the Taliban from power by the end of 2001, but the war did not end.
    • Nongovernmental and international relief organizations began to deliver humanitarian aid and reconstruction support, but their efforts were uncoordinated.
    • U.S. trainers began creating a new Afghan National Army, but lack of funding, insufficient volunteers and inadequate facilities hampered the effort.
    • The Taliban entry into Kabul in August 2021 merely put an exclamation point on a campaign the United States had lost many years before.

A goal that’s hard to achieve

    • An Israeli invasion of Gaza could well lead to an indecisive quagmire if the political goal is not considered ahead of time.
    • Israel has invaded Gaza twice, in 2009 and 2014, but quickly withdrew its ground forces once Israeli leaders calculated they had reestablished deterrence.
    • The newly declared goal of destroying Hamas as a military force is far more difficult than that.
    • Israel has the capacity to level Gaza and round up segments of the population, but that may not be wise.

France's decision to leave Niger was a bad move: three reasons why

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Only four weeks earlier, Macron had refused to follow the instructions of the putschists who’d ordered the ambassador and French forces to leave the country.

Key Points: 
  • Only four weeks earlier, Macron had refused to follow the instructions of the putschists who’d ordered the ambassador and French forces to leave the country.
  • He argued that he did not recognise the new junta, which took power on 26 July, and insisted that his forces would remain in the country.
  • As a scholar of politics and international relations, I have been exploring the security situation and the rise of insurgency in the Sahel for over a decade.
  • The US resumed operations in some of its bases in Niger, having secured agreement from the junta.

The fight against terrorism

    • The country is actively involved in and contributes to security organisations such as the G5 Sahel and the Multinational Joint Task Force.
    • These organisations are involved in the fight against terrorism in the region.
    • The decision by France to pull out of Niger will have an impact on counter terrorism operations in the region.
    • France has been involved there for a long time and has soldiers who thoroughly understand the region.

Russia versus the US

    • Nevertheless, it is not unreasonable to assume that one of Washington’s reasons for making sure it remained in Niger was the fear that it might lose the country to Russia.
    • In Mali, the military junta replaced French troops with Wagner forces.
    • Since 2022, Russia has gained influence through the Wagner Group after the exit of France.

What it means for migration

    • The EU needs stability in Niger to stem trafficking and avoid another humanitarian catastrophe as seen in 2015-16.
    • Europe witnessed the highest number of migrants transiting through Niger and Libya into Europe during this period.
    • While serving as interior minister, Bazoum was instrumental in passing a law against people smuggling through Niger.

Next steps


    While I understand that increased diplomacy with the junta cements its authority, I think foreign powers should accept that there is a government in Niger that has some degree of popularity among the citizens. Frozen channels of diplomacy must be reactivated to prevent a total collapse of the Sahel’s security architecture and in order to achieve a quick transition to democracy.

Saudi reforms are softening Islam's role, but critics warn the kingdom will still take a hard line against dissent

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 5, 2023

For decades, Saudi kings provided support to religious scholars and institutions that advocated an austere form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism.

Key Points: 
  • For decades, Saudi kings provided support to religious scholars and institutions that advocated an austere form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism.
  • The kingdom enforced strict codes of morality, placing restrictions on the rights of women and religious minorities, among others.
  • As a scholar who studies interpretations of Islamic law to justify or contest militancy, I’ve followed these reforms closely.
  • In an interview broadcast widely throughout the kingdom, MBS chastised Wahhabi scholars, accusing some of falsifying Islamic doctrines.

Negotiating Wahhabism

    • The booming Saudi oil economy developed by Abdulaziz required his son, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964 to 1975, to reconsider the monarchy’s relationship with Wahhabism.
    • Abroad, Faisal’s scholars presented Wahhabism as an authentic Islamic alternative to the Cold War ideologies of the U.S. and USSR.
    • Wealthy Saudis, these Wahhabi scholars argued, had a religious duty to promote Wahhabism across the globe.

Resisting Wahhabism

    • King Khalid, who followed Faisal, continued to favor Wahhabi scholars, particularly while responding to two major challenges in 1979.
    • Afterward, Khalid agreed to elevate religious officials who affirmed the Islamic credentials of the monarchy.
    • One such Saudi who answered the call that year was Osama bin Laden, who would establish al-Qaida in 1988.
    • He has worked quickly to erase those accommodations and, like his grandfather, affirm the supremacy of the monarchy.

A ‘moderate Wahhabism’ for Saudi society?

    • Saudi Arabia has announced it will no longer fund mosques and Wahhabi educational institutions in other countries.
    • Saudi religious police, once tasked with upholding public morality, saw their powers curtailed.
    • In 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, was killed following his calls for a continued voice for Islamist reformers in Saudi Arabia.
    • Al-Rasheed argues that the images of a new Saudi society conceal suppression of Saudi reformers.