Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.
AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer
An unprecedented onslaught from the US hasn’t destroyed the terrorist organization. What is the secret of its resilience?
wavebreakmedia/www.shutterstock.com
In this first of two podcasts, listen in to hear about the rebooting of a Syrian rebel group, an old drug and your computer.
Jabat Al-Nusra goes its own way.
Orient News TV/EPA
When it comes to the Syrian opposition, it’s practically impossible to separate ‘moderates’ from ‘extremists’.
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.
Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail
The agreement so enthusiastically received by the world is less a leap forward than a cynical act of self-preservation.
One of many: a Free Syrian Army fighter.
Reuters
Russia has started bombing some of the groups machinating against Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Who are they, and what do they want?
On the sidelines no more.
EPA/Atef Safadi
Why are Syria and Israel competing to be the ultimate protecters of the Druze?
Social media used to lure teenagers to join the fight in the Middle East.
Flickr/Aaron Concannon
A war of words is being waged on social media by terrorist groups trying to recruit Australian teenagers to join the fight in the Middle East.
When not employing the description ‘death cult’, Prime Minister Tony Abbott prefers to use the name Da'esh because the group ‘hates being referred to by this term’.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The terrorist group now calls itself Islamic State, but the many names by which it is known reflect both its own evolution and the deliberate choices others make in how they refer to it.