Videos released by Islamic State have captured the attention of the world for years. But the media focus on its so-called ‘slick, professional’ video techniques runs the risk of mythologising the terrorist group.
The 1,200 year old Umayyad Mosque – also known as the Great Mosque of Aleppo – lost its minaret (on left) in 2013 after continued heavy gunfire between rebels and Syrian government forces.
Reuters
It is important to prosecute militants who destroy antiquities. But ‘everyday’ development - from dams flooding towns to the impact of mining on Indigenous rock art – does vastly more damage to heritage than war.
ISIS fighters celebrating in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014. Criminological studies suggest terrorists would use diverse tactics to neutralise feelings of guilt.
Reuters
Do ISIS fighters feel guilty about the violence they perpetrate? Not likely, according to criminological research, which suggests terrorists “neutralise” their guilt, just as many other criminals do.
A child plays in the Kara Tepe camp close to Mytilene on Lesbos island.
Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters
Perceptions of hordes of refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos have damaged tourism. But the refugees are dignified people, not beggars. An initiative is needed to bring tourists back to the island.
A girl stands near fighters in Aleppo. August 7, 2016.
REUTERS/Rodi Said
A professor at Ohio State surveyed Turkish citizens about their views on democracy. What he learned helps explain the current crisis in the EU wannabe.
The Promenade des Anglais July 17.
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Sibel Oktay, University of Illinois at Springfield
Three suicide bombers killed 42 at Turkey’s busiest airport June 28. A scholar explains how Turkey’s foreign policy blunders have made the country such a target for terrorist attacks.
Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce speaks with the media following a prayer for victims of the Orlando shooting.
Joe Skipper/Reuters
Because Muslim Americans are an extreme ‘outgroup,’ they’re all the more vulnerable to discrimination, especially in the wake of negative media coverage.
Schematic diagram of an aggregate made up of linked users, with the mathematical equation that describes this online pro-ISIS ecology.
Neil Johnson
BU researchers on the prevalence of mass shootings and gun violence, why parents often underestimate how easily their kids could access a gun and why we know so little about how to solve this problem.
The urgent need to respond to ISIS has redefined the use of “self-defense” to include attacking a nonstate threat in another country. But what are the implications of this? change?
Shattered windows after multiple explosions at a Brussels airport in Zaventem.
EPA/Laurent Dubrule
The deadly terror attack in Brussels raises the issue of safety and security at airports. But this is more about our approach to risk in any areas where people are known to gather.
Rome’s Trevi fountain lit up with the Belgian flag. Why do some violent acts prompt global artistic memorial, but not others?
Stefano Rellandini/Reuters
From Tintin weeping to spotlit buildings, images are rapidly circulating on social media as a way of comprehending the Brussels bombings. But where was the cartoon for those who died in Ankara? Are some tragedies “ungrievable”?
Without the perfect-storm conditions of post-invasion insurgency, this most potent expression of al-Qaedaism yet would never have risen to dominate both the Middle East and the world in the way that it does.
Reuters/Stringer
The final article of our series on the historical roots of Islamic State examines the role recent Western intervention in the Middle East played in the group’s inexorable rise.