Publications

While the US focuses on the campaign against Iran and the Iranian threats to avenge the death of Al Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, the US suffered an unexpected blow from the Al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab, which attacked a US base in Kenya, causing the deaths of 3 Americans.

On 27 October, President Donald Trump announced Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was shot and killed, in what was perceived as a remarkable victory for the US war against terrorism.

ABSTRACT

 

The threat of a renewed major wave of jihadist terrorism in Europe depends on the way we seize the opportunity offered by the decline of ISIS’s self-declared caliphate.

Europe has to decide on common coordinated strategies how to challenge the threats: the policy for the returning Foreign Fighters; the fate of women and children in camps and prisons in Syria and Iraq; radicalization in prisons, including the policies of punishment and liberation of prisoners. The latest example of the knifing attack by Usman Khan in London is a vivid reminder.

The European leniency vis-à-vis major influential entrepreneurs and ideologues, like Anjem Choudary, who are much more dangerous than the jihadist “soldiers” or even the leading operational heads, needs to be replaced by a strategy adapted to the threat they represent.

The focus should be on prevention of radicalization rather than de-radicalization, as several EU Horizon2020 projects try to promote.

The threat of a renewed major wave of jihadist terrorism in Europe depends on the way we seize the opportunity offered by the decline of ISIS’s self-declared caliphate.

Europe has to decide on common coordinated strategies how to challenge the threats: the policy for the returning Foreign Fighters; the fate of women and children in camps and prisons in Syria and Iraq; radicalization in prisons, including the policies of punishment and liberation of prisoners. The latest example of the knifing attack by Usman Khan in London is a vivid reminder.

The European leniency vis-à-vis major influential entrepreneurs and ideologues, like Anjem Choudary, who are much more dangerous than the jihadist “soldiers” or even the leading operational heads, needs to be replaced by a strategy adapted to the threat they represent.

The focus should be on prevention of radicalization rather than de-radicalization, as several EU Horizon2020 projects try to promote.

France has experienced higher numbers of terrorist attacks than any other European country. It is one of the most effected countries globally. Recent waves of terror have been committed by those who self-identify as Muslim. In analyzing insecurity in France related to jihadism, French secularism is often pointed to as a casual factor. This body of works seeks to explore the relationship between Jihad in France and French secularism (Laïcité). This paper will analyze French policy, laws, and social factors such as income, employment, housing, and education, while defining Laïcité aside and against violent expressions of radical Islam.

This article is a compilation of much of the information published by multiple media sources since the killing by American forces of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS and former Caliph of the Islamic State, and a first evaluation of the organization’s future.