Media
Mention
25 January 2014
“Easyjet-Jihad”: Budget airlines offer easy access to Syria’s civil war
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino is quoted in Switzerland's daily Aargauer Zeitung in an article on the ease with which Swiss jihadists can access the civil war in Syria.
"It has never been easier for radicals to fight in the name of jihad", he says....
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Mention
25 January 2014
Cheap flights to Syria’s civil war
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino is mentioned in Switzerland’s 20 Minuten in an article on the ease with which Swiss jihadists can access the civil war in Syria....
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Mention
23 January 2014
Islamic ‘magistrates’ in Germany
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour speaks to journalist Marion Bacher about the practise of unofficial, Islamic ‘magistrates’ in Germany....
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Mention
21 January 2014
Does God forbid us from having fun? Transcript of a discussion in Neukölln, Berlin
Germany's Centre for Democratic Culture (ZDK) has published the transcript of a debate held in Berlin on the topic of the Islamic image of God. The debate featured prominent speakers including EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour, who also works closely with the ZDK. The speakers addressed a number of critical questions, including the image of God as a merciful vs. a punitive being; the image of God which young Muslims grow up with; the effect of...
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Article
21 January 2014
Western secret manoeuvres to approach Assad
European fighters, who have been travelling to Syria in the name of Jihad, may one day come back to Europe with their Islamic fundamentalism.
This scenario significantly worries Western countries, which therefore started to consider President Assad as a possible ally....
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Article
20 January 2014
Democracy and confusions, its paradoxes and dangers
In the below article, EFD Senior Fellow Richard Rossin refers to the particular importance of democracy: “our great victory inherited from the Enlightenment”.
Nevertheless, nowadays in the Middle East, recent theocracies contradict the promotion of democratic values....
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Article
20 January 2014
Let’s criminalise forced marriage: secular and Islamic perspectives
In a rejoinder to Amrit Wilson's article Criminalising forced marriage in the UK: why it will not help women, Tehmina Kazi lays out the arguments for the criminalisation of forced marriage, with a particular focus on the Scottish Parliament's recent consultation on full criminalisation....
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Article
17 January 2014
Syria: Fears and hopes for Geneva
Next week an UN-backed conference on Syria begins in Geneva, attended by representatives from both Syria and the international community. EFD Senior Policy Advisor Magnus Norell explains which possible conclusions could be reached during the conference....
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Article
14 January 2014
Islam taught in German and Austrian schools
EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone discusses the possibility of introducing Islam into the education systems of European schools. Both Germany and Austria have already adopted this initiative to stem the tide of Islamic radicalisation....
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Article
13 January 2014
A secular constitution is the new Islamist strategy
Tunisia's new constitution appears to be more secular than most had expected. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo observes that the Tunisian government seems to compromise on Islamic legislation as a strategy to avoid the recent scenario in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared a "terrorist organisation"....
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Article
09 January 2014
The battle call of the Muslim Brotherhood
According to EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo, ever since the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation" on 25th December 2013, this Islamist group has been showing its true colours by inciting violence and using media to convince their audience of their innocence....
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Article
08 January 2014
Dieudonné or the fragile and confused state
France has witnessed an increase in anti-Semitic gestures, sparked by comedian Dieudonné’s creation of the infamous “quenelle” gesture. EFD Senior Fellow Richard Rossin observes how French politicians are showing their indignation towards this rise in anti-Semitism, but seem to be too busy complaining and fail to stimulate significant change....
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Article
08 January 2014
Facing death penalty when defending freedom
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, detained in a Saudi prison since 2012 for offences against Islamic religious figures, is now being tried for apostasy. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo condemns such a sentence and highlights how Badawi's blogging activities were merely trying to provide Saudi civil society with a voice in the midst repression....
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Article, Mention
08 January 2014
My son, the Salafist
Austria’s daily newspaper Wiener Zeitung features a report on the counter-radicalisation work of EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour in Germany....
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Article
08 January 2014
Russia’s growing Middle East influence
Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved perhaps his most desired goal in 2013: He successfully positioned Russia as indispensable to resolving key international problems. And nowhere has his success been more visible than in the Syrian conflict and Iranian nuclear negotiations....
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Article
07 January 2014
The Egyptian government stands beside Coptic Christians
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo writes that the decision made by the Egyptian government to regard the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist organisation" has been triggered by ongoing discrimination against Christian Copts in Egypt, and that the Egyptian government understands the need to protect this religious minority....
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Article
01 January 2014
Lavrov’s Visit to Tehran Strengthens Russia-Iran
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya writes that Lavrov's visit to Tehran in December appears to have strengthened Russia-Iran ties, commenting on their shared interests....
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Article
01 January 2014
Russia Strengthens Its Presence in the Caucasus amidst Protests
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya observes that Russia is not intending to loosen its grip in the South Caucasus. This decision comes soon after Armenia's joining of Russia's Customs Union....
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Article
01 January 2014
Russia’s $2 Billion Weapons Deal with Egypt
Russia's $2 billion weapons deal with Egypt is viewed, by EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya, as an attempt to renew Soviet-era ties. This deal also gives Russia the opportunity to fill the void that the U.S. is leaving as an ally for Egypt, thus increasing its influence in the Middle East....
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Article
20 December 2013
Darfur: for a free and democratic Sudan
This article is currently only available in French, and can be read here.....
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Article
09 December 2013
Russia: Alternative point of view on Syrian conflict
In the run-up to the Geneva peace talks on Syria scheduled for early November, mainstream Russian press typically provided brief dry reports on the Syrian conflict, similar to the accompanying excerpt from Lenta.ru (Ribbon) from 22 October. The article quotes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stating that he doubted the talks will be attended by “forces representing the Syrian people,” and expressed a decision to run for Syria’s presidency i...
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Article
02 December 2013
Who is feeding the ‘European’ Jihad in Syria
Since 2011, large waves of Europeans have been travelling to Syria in the name of Jihad. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo discusses the influence of preachers such as Shaikh R. al-Nabulsi on the growing phenomenon of European fighters in Syria....
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Article
Article
26 November 2013
The evolution of Jihadism in Italy: rise in homegrown radicals
Jihadist terrorism in Italy has recently undergone significant demographic and operational changes. The first generation...
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Article
16 November 2013
Historical agreement between Russia and Egypt. Will Moscow sell weapons to Cairo?
This article is currently only available in Italian, and can be read here.
....
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Article
10 November 2013
The new Iran: all change or just more of the same?
EFD fellow Anna Borshchevskaya notes in her latest op-ed for Al-Arabiya that "Diplomacy cannot succeed so long as the Iranian regime is driven by an ideology that, at its core, is in an existential conflict with liberal democratic values".
Video footage captured by Syrian rebels suggests that Iran’s involvement in the Syrian conflict goes beyond sending advisors to assist Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The BBC reported on 30th October that th...
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Article
10 November 2013
The new Iran: all change or just more of the same?
EFD fellow Anna Borshchevskaya notes in her latest op-ed for Al-Arabiya that "Diplomacy cannot succeed so long as the Iranian regime is driven by an ideology that, at its core, is in an existential conflict with liberal democratic values".
Video footage captured by Syrian rebels suggests that Iran’s involvement in the Syrian conflict goes beyond sending advisors to assist Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The BBC reported on 30th October that...
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Article
10 November 2013
The new Iran: all change or just more of the same?
EFD fellow Anna Borshchevskaya notes in her latest op-ed for Al-Arabiya that "Diplomacy cannot succeed so long as the Iranian regime is driven by an ideology that, at its core, is in an existential conflict with liberal democratic values".
Video footage captured by Syrian rebels suggests that Iran’s involvement in the Syrian conflict goes beyond sending advisors to assist Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The BBC reported on 30th October th...
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Article
07 November 2013
Ukraine should steer clear of Soviet Union 2.0
Later this month, the European Union’s Council of Ministers will decide whether to sign Ukraine’s European Union Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, ten days later. If the European Union agrees to offer the Ukraine formal association, it will eliminate most barriers to trade between Ukraine and the European Union, and boost Ukraine’s economy. More importantly, the agreement would allow Ukraine to take a big...
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Broadcast
28 October 2013
Anti-Semitism today: How hostile is Germany toward Jews?
This public television documentary marks a major milestone in Ahmad Mansour's efforts to raise awareness of anti-Semitism in Germany today....
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Broadcast
02 September 2013
Morsi goes on trial
On Sunday Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was referred to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents while in office, the state news agency said.
What kind of trial could that be and what implications could it have?
We are discussing these issues with Dr. Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid, Professor of political science and Director of the Center for Developing Countries Studies at Cairo University, and Valentina Colombo,...
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Article
29 August 2013
Iran threatens retaliation against Israel
In the event of a western military strike against Syria, Iran has threatened to launch rocket attacks against Israel....
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Article
27 August 2013
Persecution of Baha’is in Iran
Members of Iran's Baha'i community continue to face systematic persecution at the hands of the Iranian regime.
In the Islamist dictatorship, the state clergy is one of the main bodies responsible for incendiary conduct and murder. Once again, a Baha'i has been assassinated in Iran. Before the murder, a cleric had rallied against the Baha'i, and soon afterwards the fanatical mob responded.
Seemingly unremarkably, Ataollah Rezwani was killed. The...
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Article
26 August 2013
Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Iran
Iranian news media has recently turned its attention to the role of Jewish organisations and the issue of US foreign policy....
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Mention
26 August 2013
The scientist under Syria’s microscope
Meet the neurobiologist-turned-weapons inspector who could stop — or start — a wider war.
CAIRO — On Monday morning, a United Nations chemical weapons inspection team left the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Damascus, and prepared to head to the site of what is alleged to be the worst chemical weapons attack in decades. They were led by AkeSellstrom, a Swedish scientist who finds himself transported from his classroom at Umea University in...
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Article
23 August 2013
The Future of the MENA region
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino answers questions on the future of the MENA region for the Zurich-based think tank ISN. Vidino notes that the result of the Arab Spring has been to give citizens the idea that they can shape their countries' destinies. However the Arab world still has to contend with serious problems such as economic stagnation and a youth bulge that is causing social instability.
You can read the article at ISN her...
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Article
23 August 2013
The world’s inaction enabled gas attack
Magnus Norell on the international ramifications of the chemical attack launched by the Syrian regime against civilians in the suburbs of Damascus....
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