What prompted Turkey’s punishing campaign against both Islamic State and Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria? The explanation for this sharp reversal of policy may lie in calculations for fresh elections.
Saudi citizens supporting Islamic State are not the result of a coherent plan directed by its rulers, but the overflow of a long-standing system used to maintain its domestic legitimacy.
We need political and civil society leaders to reflect on the language that they use, and to strive to shape a civic narrative with which we can all engage.
A struggle is underway for the heart and soul of Islam. Moderate Muslims need to engage in the contest to ensure their view of Islam is the one that prevails.
The continual use of colourful language when talking about terrorism exaggerates the threat in Australia and could play into the hands of Islamic State’s sophisticated recruitment strategies.
Malcolm Turnbull has warned against overestimating the Islamic State threat and amplifying its significance, in a speech contrasting sharply with Tony Abbott’s declarations.
People sometimes overlook their profound differences if social forces unite them in a common, often ill-defined desire. Hostility to Muslims is creating an imagined solidarity that Islamists can exploit.