Aziz Z. Huq (Chicago): Terrorism and Democratic Recession. Lisa Blaydes and Martha Crenshaw on how 9/11 created a feedback loop for international jihadism. Paul Kamolnick (ETSU): The Al-Qaeda Organization and the Islamic State Organization: History, Doctrine, Modus, Operandi, and U.S Policy to Degrade and Defeat Terrorism Conducted in the Name of Sunni Islam. Mara Revkin (Yale): When Terrorists Govern: Why State-Building Terrorist Groups Require a New Targeting Approach. From RAND, when the Islamic State comes to town: The economic impact of Islamic State governance in Iraq and Syria.
From the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, Anne Speckhard (Georgetown) and Ahmet S. Yayla (George Mason): The Runaway Bride of ISIS: Transformation a Young Girl with a Dream to a Lethal ISIS Enforcer. We spoke to women who married into ISIS in Syria — these are their regrets. Rape and slavery was lure for UK ISIS recruits with history of sexual violence. New UN team investigating ISIS atrocities raises questions about justice in Iraq and beyond.
“Come out and surrender”: Inside Raqqa, with the fighters who drove off ISIS. ISIS fighters, having pledged to fight or die, surrender en masse. Trump: ISIS “gave up” because he’s president. Trump’s boasts about ISIS crumble under scrutiny. ISIL was ended not by Trump or Obama but by Muslims. Why the fall of Raqqa doesn’t feel like much of a victory. ISIS “caliphate” fades but social media empire remains. Adam Badawy and Emilio Ferrara (USC): The Rise of Jihadist Propaganda on Social Networks.
