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…
As published by Homeland Security Today by Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci ROJAVA, Syria: “I didn’t know John,” 35-year-old Alexanda Kotey responds with a look of innocence filling his face to our question of, “Are you one of the Beatles?”…
As Published in Homeland Security Today by Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci ROJAVA, Syria: The belief in an afterlife and the fear of eternal damnation is one way to manipulate a believer. Such manipulative tactics worked on Hoda Muthana, a…
By Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci as published in Homeland Security Today In the complicated relationship between the government of Turkey and ISIS, it’s unclear how much of the relationship was direct and formal, as opposed to support coming from…
As published in African Security Somalia has been a hotspot for terrorism and instability since the early 1990s. Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, has been successful in carrying out a number of deadly attacks outside of Somalia and enticing…
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…
Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci as published in Homeland Security Today At the recent 2018 Doha Forum, which ICSVE researchers participated in, Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad powerfully spoke on behalf of female victims of rape and captivity around the world.[1]Nadia chronicled…
by Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci As published in Homeland Security Today It is often argued that prisons may accelerate the process of radicalization by virtue of having vulnerable prisoners isolated from mainstream society under circumstances in which they may be…
Anne Speckhard, Ardian Shajkovci, Claire Wooster & Neima Izadi ABSTRACT This article reports on The International Center for Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE’s) small-scale Facebook ad awareness campaigns ran between December 7, 2017 and December 31, 2017 in the United States, UK,…
Historically speaking, compelling narratives and messages have always served as a crucial means for violent extremist groups to attract followers to their cause. In this regard, terrorist groups like ISIS have managed to attract thousands of fighters to the conflict zones…