RADICALIZATION
PLUS IMPERIALISM & POWER
Suggested reading & research from Ed Knox
In preparation for the conversation on radicalization, review your lives and careers for those moments of greatest fear, highest emotion, deepest despair about being powerless, to see if you have ever been radicalized or even close to it. Think about what brain-washing requires, a concept we don't use much these days.
Here is a list of experiences in history you should google, not to become an expert but to become a little conversant with the issue:
Here is a list of experiences in history you should google, not to become an expert but to become a little conversant with the issue:
- Holocaust and Israel
- Amritsar massacre and India
- Algeria war and France
- Denshawai incident and Egypt
- Drone attacks and Pakistan
- Chechnya and Russia
- Armenia and Turks
- Al-Qaidah and the far enemy
- Other violent and colonial situations.
Articles:
- "Is the Next Terrorist Threat Already Brewing?" on "Fareed's Global Briefing," Sept 20, 2019
- "Why Haven’t We Defeated al-Shabaab?" by Diana Ohlbaum on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," Jan 18, 2017
- "Obama Hoped to Transform the World. It Transformed Him." by Adam Shatz in "The New York Times," Jan 12, 2017
- "Pardon the American Taliban" by Paul Theroux in "The New York Times," Oct 22, 2016
- "After 9/11, We Thought It Would Be a Generation-Long Struggle; We Were Wrong" by Richard Clarke on "ABC News," Sept 8, 2016
- "How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers" by Rukmini Callimachi in "The New York Times," Aug 3, 2016
- "No, Turkey 2016 is not Iran 1979" by Eldar Mamedov on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," July 26, 2016
- "Monday Briefing: Chilcot Report, French FM in Lebanon, Iran Economy" by Daniel Serwer, Alex Vatanka on Paul Salem at "Middle East Institute," July 11, 2016
- "A Saudi Morals Enforcer Called for a More Liberal Islam. Then the Death Threats Began." by Ben Hubbard in "The New York Times," July 10, 2016
- "The Terrorists the Saudis Cultivate in Peaceful Countries" by Nicholas Kristof in "The New York Times," July 2, 2016
- "Top 7 ways to tell if Someone is lying about being a ‘Salafi Jihadi’" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," June 14, 2016
- "Is Tel Aviv Mayor Right that Israel is unique in Occupation & denying Civil Rights?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," June 12, 2016
- "Rise of Donald Trump Tracks Growing Debate Over Global Facism" by Peter Baker in "The New York Times," May 28, 2016
- "The World Reaps What the Saudis Sow" by the Editorial Board of "The New York Times," May 27, 2016
- "Losing the war on jihadism" by Christina Pazzanese in "Harvard Gazette," May 4, 2016
- "The End of American Iraq: Poor Shiites invade Parliament over corrupt Spoils System" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," May 1, 2016
- "The Middle East’s fading frontiers" by Thanassis Cambanis in "The Boston Globe," May 1, 2016
- "How the Curse of Sykes-Picot Still Haunts the Middle East" by Robin Wright in "The New Yorker," April 30, 2016
- "Trouble Brewing in Egypt" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," April 27, 2016
- "Inclusive Governing key to preventing 5th Wave of Violent Radicalism" by Carl Bildt on "Informed Comment," April 26, 2016
- "Obama in Saudi Arabia, Exporter of Oil and Bigotry" by Nicholas Kristof in "The New York Times," April 20, 2016
- "6 Policies Obama wants Saudi Arabia to Change" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," April 19, 2016
- "The Children's Crusade" by John Feffer on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," April 13, 2016
- "A New Deal for Europe" by Thomas Piketty in "The New York Review of Books," February 25, 2016
- "What would effective Counter-Terrorism look like after Brussels?" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," March 27, 2016
- "The Islamic State and Endlessly Expanding War" by Paul R. Pillar on "LobeLog Foreign Policy," March 22, 2016
- "Where did ISIS come from? The story starts here." by Neil Swidey in "The Boston Globe Magazine," March 10, 2016
- "Andrew Bacevich, Donald Trump and the Remaking of America" by Nick Turse on "TomDispatch.com," March 1, 2016 (introduction to "Don’t Cry for Me, America: What Trumpism Means for Democracy" by Andrew J. Bacevich)
- "US Mil. ‘Expert’ equates Muslim Veiling with ‘Passive Terrorism’; One woman has Questions for Him" by Domenica Ghanem on "Informed Comment," Feb 27, 2016
- "Pakistan’s Hand in the Rise of International Jihad" by Carlotta Gall in "The New York Times," Feb 6, 2016
- "Saudi Arabia's Reckless Extremism" by Mohammad Javad Zarif in "The New York Times," Jan 10, 2016
- "The Return of History" by Aatish Taseer in "The New York Times," Dec 11, 2015
- "Roof, Dear and Tashfeen Malik: ‘Self-Radicalized,’ ‘Terrorism,’ ‘Lone Wolf’ and Double Standards" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Dec 5, 2015
- "The Intifada, Viral Death, and the Facebook Fallacy: Interview with Rebecca Stein" by Julie Poucher Harboin on "InformedComment," Oct 25, 2015
- "Britain Unveils Plans to Fight Extremism in Young Muslims" by Stephen Castle in "The New York Times," Oct 19, 2015
- "Islamic State Tries to Show It Can Govern in Iraq and Syria" by Margaret Coker & Alexis Flynn in "The Wall Street Journal," Oct 13, 2015
- "The Imam’s Curse: A family accused of financing terrorists" by Evan Osnos in "The New Yorker," Sept 21, 2015
- "Israeli Terrorists, Born in the U.S.A." by Sara Yael Hirschhorn in "The New York Times," Sept 4, 2015"
- When ISIS Rapists Win" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Aug 28, 2015
- "Why ISIS Trumps Freedom" by Roger Cohen in "The New York Times," Aug 13, 2015
- "The New Age of Counterinsurgency Policing" and "The Wars Come Home: A Five-Step Guide to the Police Repression of Protest from Ferguson to Baltimore and Beyond" by Michael Gould-Wartofsky on "TomDispatch.com," by May 5, 2015
- "The Nationalist Solution" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Feb 20, 2015
- "French, British colonialism grew a root of terrorism" by Stephen Kinzer in "The Boston Globe," Feb 11, 2015
- "What ISIS Really Wants" by Graeme Wood in "The Atlantic," March 2015
- "Today’s Top 7 Myths about Daesh/ ISIL" by Juan Cole on "Informed Comment," Feb 17, 2015
- "Deny the Islamic State the overreaction that it wants" by Fareed Zakaria in "The Washington Post," Feb 5, 2015
- "The Legacy of Fear" by David Brooks in "The New York Times," Nov 10, 2014
- "How to Ensure a Thriving Caliphate" by Patrick Cockburn on "TomDispatch.com," Aug 21, 2014
- "Iraqi Politics, Iranian-Iraqi relations, and How to Think About the Islamic State" by Flynt Leverett on "GoingtoTehran.com," Aug 14, 2014
- "Is ISIS a Direct Threat to the U.S.?" by Peter Van Buren on "WeMeantWell.com," Aug 14, 2014
- "Far Right in Eastern Europe Makes Gains as Syrians Arrive" by Andrew Higgins in "The New York Times," Dec 14, 2013
- "What I Found in Africa," an essay by Ed Knox about his time in the Ivory Coast.
- "Sectarian Violence Reignites in an Iraqi Town," an article by Tim Arango in The New York Times, September 18, 2013.
- "The Lost Land of Egypt," an article by Maria Golia for the Middle East Institute, September 05, 2013.
- "Kaj Larsen Gives a Debriefing on Boko Haram (Vice)" by Nicholas Kolenda on "Informed Comment," Feb 8, 2016
- "Charlie Wilson's War" - a drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects. (2007)
(Click on the title for a link to Amazon.com and a brief description of the book.)
- Bacevich, Andrew J. The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2009.
- Bergen, Peter, United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists, 2016
- Thornton, A.P. Doctrines of Imperialism. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1965
- "Peter Bergen's 'United States of Jihad' Surveys Homegrown Terrorism" by Michiko Kakutani in "The New York Times," Jan 25, 2016