Review – Counterstrike
Can al-Qaeda and like-minded terrorist groups be deterred? The Bush and Obama administrations both eventually concluded that they can be, according to a new book based on first hand accounts by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker.
Politicizing Famine Relief in the Horn of Africa Will Cost Lives
Humanitarian assistance is supposed to be provided impartially, on the basis of need and without concern for the politics of who is right. Civilians should not be punished for the sake of making political points or achieving a military victory. What is needed now is a singular focus in getting the access and supplies needed to prevent mass starvation. Politics can wait.
Al-Qaeda: Alive and Qicking
Al-Qaeda is knocked down for now, and may be grovelling in the dust for the present, relying on the deployment of children as suicide bombers. But there’s no room to dismiss the existence of the drive to pursue the campaign of jihad altogether, because the thirst to pursue a hegemonic campaign of jihad is nowhere near its end.
Religion and War in the Past and Future
The recent attacks in India suggest that the specter of religiously-motivated violence is not just back on the global agenda, but will be part of international affairs for years to come. Given what appears to be a jump in religiously-motivated violence over the last several years, what can we learn from past instances of religiously-motivated warfare to help us understand the present and future?
