Volume X, Issue 1 February 2016 PERSPECTIVES on TERRORISM Volume 10, Issue 1
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Why Concessions Should Not Be Made to Terrorist Kidnappers
European Journal of Political Economy 44 (2016) 41–52 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Political Economy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejpe Why concessions should not be made to terrorist kidnappers Patrick T. Brandt, Justin George, Todd Sandler ⁎ School of Economic, Political & Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA article info abstract Article history: This paper examines the dynamic implications of making concessions to terrorist kidnappers. Received 21 December 2015 We apply a Bayesian Poisson changepoint model to kidnapping incidents associated with Received in revised form 23 May 2016 three cohorts of countries that differ in their frequency of granting concessions. Depending Accepted 24 May 2016 on the cohort of countries during 2001–2013, terrorist negotiation successes encouraged 64% Available online 26 May 2016 to 87% more kidnappings. Our findings also hold for 1978–2013, during which these negotia- tion successes encouraged 26% to 57% more kidnappings. Deterrent aspects of terrorist casual- Keywords: ties are also quantified; the dominance of religious fundamentalist terrorists meant that such Kidnappings casualties generally did not curb kidnappings. Changepoints © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY- Game theory Concessions NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Violent ends Dynamic analysis “…we know that hostage takers looking for ransoms distinguish between those governments that pay ransoms and those that do not, and make a point of not taking hostages from those countries that do not pay.” David S. Cohen, US Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, 2012 speech to ChathamHouse [Callimachi (2014a)] 1. -
Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women's Empowerment In
Feminist Dissent Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh Sohela Nazneen* Address *Correspondence: [[email protected]] Abstract In this paper, I investigate how binary framings of women’s identity have influenced struggles for women’s rights and the interpretations of the relationship between Islam and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. These binary framings position women at opposite ends by dividing them between ‘Muslim/religious/moral/authentic/traditional’ or ‘Bengali/ secular/immoral/Westernised/ modern’. I trace the particular genealogies of these binary constructs which emerged during specific historical junctures and are influenced by the shifts in regional and international Peer review: This article politics. Drawing on primary research with women in religious political has been subject to a double blind peer review parties and women’s movement actors and newspaper reports, I provide process an account of how binary framings have been used by the Islamist actors and the counter framings used by the feminists to make claims over the state. I show how these framings have influenced the politics of © Copyright: The Authors. This article is representation of gender equality concerns, and reflect on what this means issued under the terms of the Creative Commons for possibilities of women’s empowerment and strategies for resistance. Attribution Non- Commercial Share Alike License, which permits use and redistribution of the work provided that Keywords: Bangladesh, women’s empowerment, gender, Islam, Hefazat the original author and source are credited, the work is not used for commercial purposes and that any derivative works are madentroduction available under the same license terms. -
Reporting ISIS
Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy Discussion Paper Series #D-101, July 2016 The Pen and the Sword: Reporting ISIS By Paul Wood Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Fall 2015 BBC Middle East Correspondent Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. May 2013: The kidnapping started slowly. 1 At first, it did not feel like a kidnapping at all. Daniel Rye delivered himself to the hostage-takers quite willingly. He was 24 years old, a freelance photographer from Denmark, and he had gone to the small town of Azaz in northern Syria. His translator, a local woman, said they should get permission to work. So on the morning of his second day in Azaz, only his second ever in Syria, they went to see one of the town’s rebel groups. He knocked at the metal gate to a compound. It was opened by a boy of 11 or 12 with a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder. “We’ve come to see the emir,” said his translator, using the word – “prince” – that Islamist groups have for their commanders. The boy nodded at them to wait. Daniel was tall, with crew-cut blonde hair. His translator, a woman in her 20s with a hijab, looked small next to him. The emir came with some of his men. He spoke to Daniel and the translator, watched by the boy with the Kalashnikov. The emir looked through the pictures on Daniel’s camera, squinting. There were images of children playing on the burnt-out carcass of a tank. It was half buried under rubble from a collapsed mosque, huge square blocks of stone like a giant child’s toy. -
Return to Raqqa
RETURN TO RAQQA 80' - 2020 MEDIAWAN RIGHTS Produced by Minimal Films [email protected] RETURN TO RAQQA 0 2 SYNOPSIS “Return to Raqqa” chronicles what was perhaps the most famous kidnapping event in history , when 19 journalists were taken captive by the Islamic State, as told by one of its protagonists: Spanish reporter Marc Marginedas, who was also the first captive to be released. MARC MARGINEDAS Marc Marginedas is a journalist who was a correspondent for El Periódico de Catalunya for two decades. His activity as a war correspondent led him to cover the civil war in Algeria, the second Chechen war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the civil war in Syria, among others. On 1 September 2013, Marginedas entered Syria accompanied by a group of opposition figures from the Free Syrian Army. It was his third visit to the country as a correspondent since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. His main goal during this latest trip was to provide information on the preparations for a possible international military intervention that seemed very close. Three days later, on 4 September 2013, Marginedas was abducted near the city of Hama by ISIS jihadists. His captivity lasted almost six months, during which he shared a cell with some twenty journalists and aid workers from various countries. Two of these were James Foley and Steven Sotloff, colleagues who unfortunately did not share his fate. Marginedas was released in March 2014 and has not returned to Syrian territory since then. But he now feels the need to undertake this physical, cathartic journey to the house near Raqqa where he underwent the harshest experience of his life, an experience that he has practically chosen to forget over the past few years. -
Traditional Institutions As Tools of Political Islam in Bangladesh
01_riaz_055072 (jk-t) 15/6/05 11:43 am Page 171 Traditional Institutions as Tools of Political Islam in Bangladesh Ali Riaz Illinois State University, USA ABSTRACT Since 1991, salish (village arbitration) and fatwa (religious edict) have become common features of Bangladesh society, especially in rural areas. Women and non-governmental development organizations (NGOs) have been subjected to fatwas delivered through a traditional social institution called salish. This article examines this phenomenon and its relationship to the rise of Islam as political ideology and increasing strengths of Islamist parties in Bangladesh. This article challenges existing interpretations that persecution of women through salish and fatwa is a reaction of the rural community against the modernization process; that fatwas represent an important tool in the backlash of traditional elites against the impoverished rural women; and that the actions of the rural mullahs do not have any political links. The article shows, with several case studies, that use of salish and fatwa as tools of subjection of women and development organizations reflect an effort to utilize traditional local institutions to further particular interpretations of behavior and of the rights of indi- viduals under Islam, and that this interpretation is intrinsically linked to the Islamists’ agenda. Keywords: Bangladesh; fatwa; political Islam Introduction Although the alarming rise of the militant Islamists in Bangladesh and their menacing acts in the rural areas have received international media attention in recent days (e.g. Griswold, 2005), the process began more than a decade ago. The policies of the authoritarian military regimes that ruled Bangladesh between 1975 and 1990, and the politics of expediency of the two major politi- cal parties – the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – enabled the Islamists to emerge from the political wilderness to a legit- imate political force in the national arena (Riaz, 2003). -
Bangladesh 2020 Website.Indd
BANGLADESH Quick Facts Population: 162,650,853 (July 2020 est.) Area: 148,460 sq km Ethnic Groups: Bengali at least 98%, ethnic groups 1.1% Government Type: Parliamentary republic GDP (official exchange rate): $261.5 billion (2017 est.) Source: CIA World FactBook (Last Updated August 2020) INTRODUCTION Islam exerts a profound influence on the society and politics of Bangladesh. Islamist activity in the country takes three broad forms: the traditional revivalism of grassroots movements such as the He- fazat-e-Islam, Ahl-i-Hadith, and Tablighi Jama’at; the incremental political Islam of Islamic political parties (most prominently the Bangladeshi Jama’at-i-Islami); and the more radical, subversive activism of jihadist organizations such as the Harkatul Jihad al-Islam (HUJIB) and Jagrato Muslim Janata Ban- gladesh (JMB), which seek to capture state power through unconstitutional or violent means. Since 1988, Islam has served as the state religion, although Bangladesh’s constitution allows for both freedom of religion and religiously-based politics. Terrorist attacks have been fairly uncommon in recent years, a credit to the government’s vigilance. However, heavy-handed tactics to counter violent Islamic extremism, while effective, nonetheless carry the risk of radicalizing Islamist groups that currently wish to participate in legitimate political institutions. ISLAMIST ACTIVITY Islamist activity in Bangladesh can be placed in three general categories: the traditional revivalism of grassroots movements, the incremental political Islam of the country’s Islamic political parties, and the more radical, subversive activism of jihadist organizations. The level of Islamist activity in Bangladesh differs depending on the type. Islamic revivalist groups are highly active, as measured by their ability to mobilize and to protest. -
In the Depth of the Abyss
In the Depth of the Abyss 463 media activist killed, 1027 others arrested and kidnapped 1 www.sn4hr.org - [email protected] Report Contents: - Introduction ................................................................................................3 - Report methodology ..................................................................................5 - Executive Summary ...................................................................................6 - Report Details ............................................................................................6 1. Government forces (army, security, local militias, foreign militias).........6 2. Kurdish Democratic Union forces ............................................................10 3. Extremist Groups .......................................................................................11 4. Armed Opposition Factions .......................................................................14 5. Unidentified Groups ...................................................................................15 - Recommendations .......................................................................................16 2 www.sn4hr.org - [email protected] SNHR is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit, human rights organization that was founded in June 2011. SNHR is a Thursday 23 April 2015 certified source for the United Nation in all of its statistics. A- Introduction As the popular protests began in March 2011 the Syrian authorities realized the crucial role of the media in exposing their -
Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: the Case of Bangladesh
Politics and Religion, 12 (2019), 257–282 © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, 2018. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. doi:10.1017/S1755048318000573 1755-0483/19 Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: The Case of Bangladesh Jasmin Lorch GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES), GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies Abstract: As of yet, Islamization by secular ruling parties has hardly been investigated in depth. To bridge this gap, the present article reviews the existing literature on Islamization, synthesizes the scattered existing theoretical insights on Islamization by secular actors and applies them to the case of Bangladesh. It argues that, especially when they act in conjunction, three main conditions can drive secular rulers to Islamize public policy: first, the rise of Islamist social movements; second, fierce political competition; and third, (semi-)authoritarian rule. Focusing on the current Awami League (AL) government, the article shows how these three factors have interacted to produce a top-down process of state-led Islamization in Bangladesh. In December 1971, Bangladesh was established as a secular state based on the country’s ethno-linguistic Bengali identity (e.g. Siddiqi 2011, 18), fol- lowing a war of independence against Pakistan in which between one and three million Bangladeshis were killed (Cordon 2007, 14). The Awami League (AL) that led the independence struggle is a secular party, whose constitution pledges “[t]o build a [s]ecular, democratic society and state-system imbued with the spirit of Liberation War” (AL constitu- tion). -
Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: the Case of Bangladesh Lorch, Jasmin
www.ssoar.info Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: The Case of Bangladesh Lorch, Jasmin Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Lorch, J. (2019). Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: The Case of Bangladesh. Politics and Religion, 12(2), 257-282. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048318000573 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY Lizenz (Namensnennung) zur This document is made available under a CC BY Licence Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden (Attribution). For more Information see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.de Diese Version ist zitierbar unter / This version is citable under: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-62423-8 Politics and Religion, 12 (2019), 257–282 © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, 2018. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. doi:10.1017/S1755048318000573 1755-0483/19 Islamization by Secular Ruling Parties: The Case of Bangladesh Jasmin Lorch GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES), GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies Abstract: As of yet, Islamization by secular ruling parties has hardly been investigated in depth. To bridge this gap, the present article reviews the existing literature on Islamization, synthesizes the scattered existing theoretical insights on Islamization by secular actors and applies them to the case of Bangladesh. -
The Rise of Political Islam and Islamist Terrorism in Bangladesh
The rise of Political Islam and Islamist Terrorism in Bangladesh Introduction On 1 July 2016, the traditionally tolerant and secular nation of Bangladesh catapulted to international headlines in the wake of the deadliest single terrorist attack the country had experienced in decades. With five pro-Islamic State (IS) terrorists storming into the Holey Artisan Bakery, a popular restaurant located in an upscale neighbourhood in the capital city of Dhaka, the 12-hour siege ended with the death of 20 hostages, 18 of which were foreigners.1 Although the IS claimed responsibility for the attack, there was no evidence to prove that the organization had directly aided or abetted the perpetrators, despite some reports claiming that the perpetrators had been in contact with the terrorist outfit.2 International concern over the attacks prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, which had previously denied the presence of transnational Islamist terrorist organizations in the country, to launch a massive counter-terrorism operation in order to suppress any terrorist movements within the country. Three years after the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, Bangladesh has evanesced from international headlines and the radar of Western governments, despite the variegated history of Islamist terrorist violence and several sporadic attacks on non-Muslim minorities, as well as against Sufis, Ahmedis, liberal and secular social activists and foreigners. Regardless of the deepening political and social polarization taking place within the South Asian country, alongside with the intensifying threat posed by Islamic State’s and Al-Qaeda’s interests in Bangladesh, both local and international authorities have paid little attention to the potential hazards caused by such brewing Islamist violence. -
Violent Extremism and Insurgency in Bangladesh: a Risk Assessment
VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND INSURGENCY IN BANGLADESH: A RISK ASSESSMENT 18 JANUARY 2012 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Neil DeVotta and David Timberman, Management Systems International. VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND INSURGENCY IN BANGLADESH: A RISK ASSESSMENT Contracted under AID-OAA-TO-11-00051 Democracy and Governance and Peace and Security in Asia and the Middle East This paper was prepared by Neil DeVotta and David Timberman. Neil DeVotta holds a PhD in government and specializes in conflict and comparative politics of Southeast Asia. He is currently an Associate Professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. David Timberman is a political scientist with expertise in conflict, democracy and governance issues, and Southeast Asia. He is currently a Technical Director at Management Systems International. DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. CONTENTS Acronyms ........................................................................................................................i Map ............................................................................................................................... ii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... iii I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... -
Profiles of Islamist Militants in Bangladesh by Shafi Md Mostofa and Natalie J
PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 13, Issue 5 Profiles of Islamist Militants in Bangladesh by Shafi Md Mostofa and Natalie J. Doyle Abstract Since the early 1980s, Bangladeshi militants have joined wars in Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to fight for what they defined as the Ummah. Foreign cases of perceived Muslim suffering have always played a significant role in the escalation of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh. Originally, violent Islamists emerged principally in the Madrassas and came from poor families with rural backgrounds. The recent wave of Islamist militancy associated with the arrival in 2013 of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State has dramatically altered the character of Islamist militancy. Online radicalization is playing a much larger role and militant organizations are increasingly recruiting urban youths attending secular educational institutions, from both the upper and the middle classes. This Research Note explores the new profile of Islamist militants in Bangladesh by examining the biographies of the deceased Islamist militants who were killed by security forces in different operations and gunfights during the period between June 2016 and December 2018. The authors use data acquired from three newspapers renowned for covering Islamist militancy issues as well as information provided by Bangladeshi security forces. Data have been limited to deceased militants because their militancy was proven by their violent actions, at least in a number of cases. Keywords: Bangladesh, Islamist, Militant, Radicalization, and Terrorism Introduction The problem of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh first came to the public’s attention in the early 1980s and its rise has been inextricably linked with global phenomena.