It’s Just Africa: Boko Haram Raids a Multinational Military Base

In October of last year, my colleague Colin wrote with guarded optimism about the ceasefire between the Nigerian military and the terrorist group, Boko Haram, questioning whether this news was actually too good to be true. In the months following that announcement, we’ve come to see that our cynicism was unfortunately well placed.

In November, Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau released a video in which he denied any claims made by the Nigerian government about the outcome of ceasefire, explicitly stating that the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls from Chibok had converted to Islam and been married off.  This video dealt what could been seen as the final blow to the legitimacy of the statements coming from President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Criticisms of this administration grow more vocal and more numerous, as analysts say that the only solution to Boko Haram’s attempted takeover of the Nigerian state is a military solution. 

Boko Haram will stop at nothing in its advance through and out of Nigeria, and appeasement will certainly not end the violent rampages. If the Nigerian military were to pull back and effectively cede control of the territory the terrorist group already controls, it would only serve as incentive for the group to attack more towns and regions and expand its control.

Charlie and Ahmed: Two Sides of the Fight against Violent Extremism

The attacks on the Charlie Hebdo office and kosher market in Paris that left 17 dead this week defy human language: words like unthinkable, unconscionable, inhuman, and barbarous simply don’t go far enough to describe the shock and sorrow felt by people all over the world. Thankfully, it is unimaginable to most people to commit such heinous acts of violence against a group of people simply for drawing a cartoon or writing an article. Whatever your opinion of the “offensive” work of Charlie Hebdo, most voices seem to be in agreement that no one deserves to die for causing offense. (Most.)

Yet as shocking as the attack is, it is not all that surprising. That it occurred in the middle of Paris, a Western city in a Western country, is slightly out of the ordinary for a contemporary terrorist attack. Much more often, we read about attacks from the supposed safety of Western communities as Islamabad, Baghdad, Kabul, Aleppo (and on and on) burn and bleed. This type of terrorist attack (akin to small-scale urban warfare) is growing more commonplace nonetheless, and attacks like the ones in Paris this week and the Boston Marathon bombings show that the West is far from immune from extremist violence. The growing pains (to put it mildly) felt by European nations as they struggle to forge common bonds among citizens from diverse backgrounds speak to similar struggles in the Muslim-majority world to bridge communal divides. Regardless of their vastly different political landscapes, efforts at integration and harmonization have similar effects in both regions: usually division, sometimes violence.

Venezuela's Path to Dictatorship (and Economic Collapse)

While the United States grapples with a solution for the military transition next year in Afghanistan, reaching a deal with Iran on their nuclear program, and (still!) managing the fallout from NSA revelations with international implications, Venezuela seems to have gone under the radar or perhaps has simply not been deemed a high enough priority these days. Should it be though? Venezuela is certainly no friend of America’s, and hasn’t been for years – former President Hugo Chavez, who died this past March, was constantly and publicly cold towards the United States.

Nicolas Maduro

However, Venezuela is worth keeping an eye on more than ever today, due to the outspoken aggressor that is President Nicolas Maduro and the state of his economy. It was reported today that the Venezuelan assembly narrowly passed a measure giving Maduro what are known as “decree powers” – that is, enabling Maduro to unilaterally create laws without the oversight of any legislative body. Talk about frightening: the man who has publicly referred to his opponents as “capitalist parasites” and frequently mentions his plan to fight and win the “economic war” now has the unchecked power to do so.

This drastic measure is in response to an existing – and already severe – problem. Venezuela has been experiencing historic inflation lately, at an annual rate of 54%. Along with one of the highest inflation rates in the world, Venezuela has severe shortages of many necessary items, such as toilet paper, and essential cooking supplies such as sugar, oil and milk. Economically speaking, the country is dangerously close to a freefall, where perhaps not even the shock therapies that have been implemented in countries such as Bolivia in the 1980s or Eastern Europe after the Cold War will be enough to mitigate the damage.

Soldiers outside a Daka store

Maduro, however, is not the answer, and nor are his policies. Recently, the Maduro government took over a chain of electronicstores, demanding the stores to sell their products at egregiously low bargain prices. Maduro claimed that these “capitalists” had excessive profit margins too high, and that clearing out their inventory by selling at discounted prices would stimulate the economy. This was before Maduro had been granted “decree power” – imagine what laws he may implement now that he has that power.

Besides the economic impact this could have on the international market, these conditions, sustained in a country long enough, that breed disillusionment among citizens and ultimately, spawn terrorist cells. South America knows all too well the perils of having a dictator-like government and a barely functioning economy: the 1970s and 1980s historically were filled with various terrorist organizations from Bolivia to Peru to Colombia (and even Venezuela) that resulted in millions dead and violent government changes. Today, with more global connectivity than ever before, the threat of terrorist influence in Venezuela should be taken very seriously by the United States. Nicolas Maduro has “decree power” for one year – it will continue to be important to observe the repercussions from the sidelines as he inevitably spins Venezuela’s economy further out of control.

Colombia's Newest Political Party is Tied to a Terrorist Organization

It was announced earlier today that the highest court in Colombia has once again legitimized the Patriotic Union (known as the UP), which is the political arm of the notorious FARC rebel group. In a bizarre twist of events, the ruling came due to thousands of UP candidates and supporters having been targeted - and many subsequently assassinated - by government-sponsored groups. In re-instating the UP and awarding them legal status and eligibility to present candidates in next year's elections, the Colombian courts are looking for a decrease in violence aimed towards them.

When Terrorism Hits Home: Three Reactions to the Boston Bombing Crisis

 The indomitable city

Vicky Kelberer:

I wrote the following on Thursday evening, before the terrorists were killed and captured:

Boston, for me, is an adopted home. When I moved here five years ago, my mother would be the first to tell you that I spent the first week crying and wanting to go “home” to Minnesota. Five years later, Boston is home. It’s where I grew up, and I mean really grew up, into some semblance of an adult. It’s where I met best friends, found my passion in life, found mentors who help me to achieve it, and most importantly, it’s now where I come “home” to when I travel around the world and across the country. The only year since moving here that I missed Marathon Monday, the ultimate Bostonian holiday (even bigger than St. Patrick’s Day, not kidding), I had a dinner of mourning with a friend from Boston since we both were in Switzerland far away from the festivities we love so well.

At Bagram Prison, US leaves behind legacy of cruelty

On the tail end of Pres. Obama’s trip throughout the Middle East, Secretary of State John Kerry made his first trip to Afghanistan in his new position, during which he announced the turnover of Bagram Prison (or Parwan Detention Center, as it’s now known) to Afghan control. The detention center has been a hotspot in US-Afghanistan relations since President Karzai began his repeated demands for the prison and associated air base to be placed under Afghan jurisdiction during President Obama’s first term. Yet during Pres. George W. Bush’s terms in office, Bagram was infamous for more than causing political tensions: it was known as the “Afghan Guantanamo,” a stopover spot for suspected terrorists to be vetted before they went to Cuba. Allegations of torture and other inhumane treatment abounded from prisoners, many of who were later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Prisoners and guards inside Bagram. Source: AP

The New York Times brought national attention to the mistreatment of prisoners in Bagram when it published a 2005 investigation into the 2002 deaths of two detainees: Habibullah and Dilawar. Both men suffered extreme beatings at the hands of US service members who were both undertrained and undersupervised as they reached beyond the bounds of acceptable interrogations. Their methods of full-body suspension, threats with attack dogs, sleep deprivation, peroneal strikes, and more would later turn up in the case files at Abu Ghraib. In many ways, Bagram appears to have been the staging ground for many interrogators' later careers in the Gulf. While Habibullah was almost certainly guilty of supporting terrorists, Dilawar turned out to be a hapless taxi driver who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and died for it. Several US military personnel were charged for the deaths, yet if the torture was systemic (as it appears to have been), it will take more than uprooting a few bad seeds to fix the problem.