“Lasting and expanding”? On the longevity of ISIS
In its messaging to its multiple audiences, the “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) presents itself as not merely the realisation of a new political order or the negation of the Westphalian...
View ArticleTorture, deny, repeat
When the United States was attacked on 9/11, every member of the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine services had a rule book on the conduct of interrogations. It was clear and concise. It...
View ArticleCowards in Paris, cowardice of the Ummah
“If you cannot laugh at your God, then that God must be very small. The Prophet is, well, a midget,” so said Stephane Charbonnier, the Editor-in Chief of Charlie Hebdo, just a few years ago. He was not...
View ArticleAvijit’s killers, ISIS: All from the same place
I clicked open bdnews24.com and saw the screaming headline that Avijit Roy had been hacked to death 50m from the Teacher Student Center (TSC) of Dhaka University. This place has great memories for me:...
View ArticleSlave trade of the 21st century
The recent discovery of several grave sites of trafficked people in a remote jungle of Thailand and the harrowing investigative reports on trafficking of poor job seekers from Bangladesh by the news...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia and Iran are playing a winner-take-all game
Saudi Arabia’s execution on Jan. 2 of an outspoken Shi’ite cleric who called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family triggered international condemnation and set off protests throughout the Middle...
View Article