Terrorism and Political Violence July-August 2011
Therese Delpesh. Iran and the Bomb: The Abdication of International Responsibility. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. 148 pp, $19.50 paper. ISBN: 978-0-231-70006-1.
The author, a director of strategic studies at the French Atomic Energy Commission and commissioner with the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission, is well placed to independently assess this subject. She succeeds admirably.
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Terrorism and Political Violence July-August 2011
Azzam Tamimi. Hamas: Unwritten Chapters. London: C Hurst & Co., 2007 .352 pp., £14.95 paper. ISBN: 978-18-506-5834-4.
Just like North Korea, Iran is well down the road to nuclear weaponry
The recent statement from Al Qaeda that Ayman al-Zawahiri has taken over as leader after the assassination of Osama bin Laden is not a surprise.
This article first appeared in the 3 May 2011 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
ANALYSIS: The death of the figurehead leader of al-Qaeda does not presage the end of the worldwide campaign of terror he inspired
OSAMA BIN Laden’s legacy is that the ideology of al-Qaeda will endure. Al-Qaeda is a group of like-minded people, not a global military structure directed from a notional centre. In fact, the “Arab spring” we are witnessing is a much greater threat to al-Qaeda than the loss of its figurehead, iconic though he may have been.
To understand the significance of bin Laden’s death, we need to take a few steps back.
A former American diplomat has written a book which helps focus on how Ireland should deal with the terrorism of the people responsible for the murder of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr, and attempts at various other atrocities.
The latest issue of Survival (April – May 2011), the bimonthly journal of The International Institute for Strategic Studies, has a cluster of interesting articles addressing this question. Continue reading
Al Qaeda’s “home-ground” is the Middle East, Gulf and North Africa, the location of the recent popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, and now Syria. Despite all its terrorist activities and its endless propaganda, it has been effectively “missing in action” in all the popular uprisings in these countries over the last three months.
Why? Continue reading
The Israeli inquiry commission report issued Sunday 23rd January 2011 defended Israel’s actions when Israeli marines boarded the large Turkish cruise ship, the Mavi Marmara, in the early hours of 31 May 2010. Continue reading
While we were the agents of our own misfortune in Ireland, the continuing attack by the markets on Euro countries, which we are caught up in, has a very rational basis. As many have pointed out, including George Soros, Paul Krugman, and Erik Jones (Prof of European studies at the Bologna centre of Johns Hopkins University) there are significant flaws in the Euro, which may lead it to fail. The 10 most important reasons are as follows: Continue reading