Armed Conflicts

OPINION: For Azerbaijan, Time to Address the Potential Salafi Danger

By Eldar Mamedov
Earlier in October, Azerbaijani news media reported the death of a professional Azerbaijani wrestler, Rashad Bakhshaliyev, who was killed in Syria while fighting for the Islamic State. The news, which came as a surprise to many in Azerbaijan, underscores an emerging security threat for Azerbaijan.

Journalists Silenced as Killers Walk Free

By Lyndal Rowlands
A new report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) shows that nine out of 10 cases of journalist killings go unpunished.

OPINION: The Irresistible Attraction of Radical Islam

By Roberto Savio
The Oct. 23 attack on the Canadian Parliament building by a Canadian who had converted to Islam just a month earlier should create some interest in why an increasing number of young people are willing to sacrifice their lives for a radical view of Islam. 

Growing Up Among the Dead

By Karlos Zurutuza
The walls of the Association for the Martyrs of Serekaniye are covered with the portraits of those fallen in combat in this northern Syrian town. Ali Khalil has buried everyone and each of them with the help of Diar, his 13-year-old son.

OPINION: Rivalry Between Sunnis and Shiites Has Deep Roots

By Farhang Jahanpour
When  the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) suddenly emerged in Iraq, it declared as one of its first targets the Shiites and what it called the Safavids. The Safavid dynasty (1501-1736) was one of the most powerful Iranian dynasties after the Islamic conquest. 

OPINION: The Pentagon Comes Up Short on Climate

By Eric Bonds

The Pentagon recently released a new report sounding the alarm on the national security threats posed by climate change. Like previous reports on the subject, this one makes clear that Department of Defence (DoD) planners believe that global warming will seriously challenge our nation’s military forces.

Another Women’s Treaty? Implement Existing One, Say NGOs

By Thalif Deen
Can violence against women be prevented or eliminated with a new international treaty signed and ratified by the 193 member states of the United Nations?

Iraqi Christians Seek Shelter in Jordan after IS Threats

By Areej Abuqudairi
Watching videos and pictures on social media of the advance of the Islamic State (IS) inside Syria made it all seem far from reality to Iraqi Marvin Nafee.

They Say the Land is ‘Uninhabited’ but Indigenous Communities Disagree

By Amantha Perera
Disregarding the rights of indigenous people to their traditional lands is costing companies millions of dollars each year, and costing communities themselves their lives.

Democracy is “Radical” in Northern Syria

By Karlos Zurutuza
There was never anything particularly remarkable about this northern town of 25,000. However, today it has become the lab for one the most pioneering political experiments ever conducted in the entire Middle East region.

Guatemalan Officers Face Sexual Slavery Charges in Historic Trial

By Luz Mendez
On Oct. 14, Guatemala’s Court for High-Risk Crimes ruled that charges would be brought against two members of the Army for sexual slavery and domestic slavery against q’eqchís women in the military outpost of Sepur Zarco, and other serious crimes perpetrated in the framework of the government counterinsurgency policies during the armed conflict.

OPINION: The West Prefers Military Order Against History

By Johan Galtung
More senseless bombing of Muslims, more defeats for the United States-West, more ISIS-type movements, more West-Islam polarisation. Any way out?

Bougainville Voices Say ‘No’ to Mining

By Catherine Wilson
The viability of reopening the controversial Panguna copper mine in the remote mountains of Central Bougainville, an autonomous region in the east of Papua New Guinea, has been the focus of discussions led by local political leaders and foreign mining interests over the past four years.

OPINION: Ebola, Human Rights and Poverty – Making the Links

By Alicia Ely Yamin
The catastrophic Ebola crisis unfolding in West Africa offers many lessons, not least for global anti-poverty efforts. These will culminate in a set of targets, to be agreed by the United Nations in 2015, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A Jungle Shrine Awaits its Blessed Moment

By Amantha Perera
Rising out of a thick forest about 17 km from the nearest main road, the Madhu Church is a symbol of spiritual harmony and tranquility. When the wind blows you hear the leaves rustle. Other times a solemn silence hangs in the air. Old-timers say that once, almost an entire generation ago, the grass grew six feet high in the church compound, and elephants wandered through it.

OPINION: Contras and Drugs, Three Decades Later

By Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero
In late 1986, Washington was rocked by revelations that the Ronald Reagan administration had illegally aided a stateless army known as the contras in Central America.

Asia: So Close and Yet So Far From Polio Eradication

By IPS Correspondents
The goal is an ambitious one – to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. Towards this end, the multi-sector Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is bringing out the big guns, sparing no expense to ensure that “every last child” is immunised against the crippling disease.

U.S. Contractors Convicted in 2007 Blackwater Baghdad Traffic Massacre

By Jim Lobe
A federal jury here Wednesday convicted one former Blackwater contractor of murder and three of his colleagues of voluntary manslaughter in the deadly shootings of 14 unarmed civilians killed in Baghdad’s Nisour Square seven years ago.

U.S. Destroys Its Own Weapons in Enemy Hands

By Thalif Deen
When the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) captured a treasure trove of U.S. weapons from fleeing Iraqi soldiers last month, one of the rebel leaders with a morbid sense of humour was quoted as saying rather sarcastically: "We hope the Americans would honour their agreements and service our helicopters."

We Must Think of “Security” in New Ways

By Zafar Adeel
Recent events in the Arab world and elsewhere have underscored the point that traditional notions of security being dependent solely on military and related apparatus are outmoded.

OPINION: Al Baghdadi and the Doctrine Behind the Name

By Farhang Jahanpour
When Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarrai adopted the name of Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Quraishi and revealed himself to the world as the Amir al-Mu’minin (the Commander of the Faithful) Caliph Ibrahim of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the whole world had to sit up and take notice of him. 
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