“Ransom for Freeing Captives”: ISIS-Linked Transnational Networks Formalize their Priority of Freeing ISIS Loyalists from Syrian Prison Camps
"Ransom for Freeing Captives": ISIS-Linked Transnational Networks Formalize their Priority of Freeing ISIS Loyalists from Syrian Prison Camps Mona Thakkar & Anne Speckhard Download PDF here While Western countries in particular still debate about the return of women and children…
PERSPECTIVE: Why Branding Antifa a Terror Group Is a Diversion
Anne Speckhard and Molly Ellenberg As published in Homeland Security Today: In the wake of protests against police brutality sweeping the nation, the name Antifa abounds online as the political right’s bogeyman, blamed even by U.S. President Trump and Attorney…
ISIS in Their Own Words
ICSVE is proud to announce our newest publication in the Journal of Strategic Security ISIS in Their Own Words: Recruitment History, Motivations for Joining, Travel, Experiences in ISIS, and Disillusionment over Time – Analysis of 220 In-depth Interviews of ISIS Returnees,…
Psycho-social and Islamic Challenge Approaches to in-Prison Treatment of Militant Jihadis
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION The decades of military efforts and loss of human lives on the part of western governments against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, and most recently ISIS, have proven insufficient to eliminate the threat of militant jihadi terrorist…
PERSPECTIVE: What are the Legal and Moral Issues and Repercussions of the U.S. Assassination of Soleimani?
By Anne Speckhard As published in Homeland Security Today: Last week’s U.S. airstrike on Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds force, was both decried and celebrated across the Middle East and in the West by many disparate groups.…
Applying the Law in the Islamic State Caliphate
https://youtu.be/-3TVjO_nH2Y by Anne Speckhard Applying the Law in the Islamic State Caliphate is the 105th counter narrative video in the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brand series. This video features 24-year-old Syrian, Abu Qadir, who was interviewed by Anne Speckhard and Ahmet S. Yayla in…
A Cub of the Caliphate’s Jihad
https://youtu.be/D73ItroZOxk Anne Speckhard A Cub of the Caliphate’s Jihad is the 72nd counter narrative video in the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brandseries. It features fifteen-year-old Syrian, ISIS Cub of the Caliphate, Ibn Omar who was interviewed in November 2015 in southern Turkey…
As al Shabaab Reaches into Kenya to Attack Again: Can Disillusioned Terrorists Denouncing the Group Help Fight it?
Al Shabaab, the Somali based terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda, reached its long arm into Kenya again on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. According to the police, the attacks began around three pm in which gunmen jumped out of a…
10 Reasons Western Women Seek Jihad and Join Terror Groups
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.& Ardian Shajkovci, Ph.D. As published in Homeland Security Today PDF here Abstract: This paper is based on the research interviews of 101 ISIS returnees, defectors, and ISIS prison cadres conducted by the International Center for the Study…