Month: November 2020

Financing Boko Haram

There has long been speculation about how Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations are funded. Some funding clearly comes [PDF] from criminal activity, with kidnapping particularly lucrative, and from bank robberies. Presumably, protection rackets also play a role. At some times and in some places, Boko Haram has been able to impose “taxes” on the local population. Boko Haram has also been involved in trading, especially in the Lake Chad Basin. Weapons—a major expense—appear often to come from government armories, sometimes because “the back gate was left unlocked.” In southern, predominantly Christian Nigeria, it is often assumed that northern “big men” provide funding for Boko Haram. Most of this is speculation. It also appears likely that Boko Haram’s brand of terrorism is cheap; the organization does not require the levels of funding characteristic of terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East or Europe.

The Hidden Contributors To Jihadi Terror In France

One can only imagine the shock and bitterness from France’s political leadership in October 2020 when after three terrorist attacks, France was the recipient of anger and hatred not only from some Middle East regimes, Islamist demagogues, and jihadi propagandists, but from liberal and left-wing Western, especially English-speaking, media.[1] These media outlets particularly blamed an abrasive Gallic brand of tough secularism for possibly alienating French Muslims.

Terrorisme: pour eux, c’est (toujours) la faute de la France!

Une tribune publiée par le site de l’Obs invoque l’interventionnisme occidental pour expliquer le terrorisme. Les Français seraient dans le déni, selon le texte. Non seulement cette antienne de gauche n’a rien de très original, mais à la vue du parcours militant de certains des signataires, cela n’a rien d’étonnant. Explications

Egyptian, Russian navies carrying out Friendship Bridge 3 drills in Black Sea

The naval vessels and units participating in the drill departed from Alexandria Naval Base in formation on their way to the Black Sea

A number of Egyptian naval vessels participating in the Egyptian-Russian maritime drill dubbed Friendship Bridge 3 have crossed the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits on their way to the Black Sea, the Egyptian Armed Forces said on Monday.

Hundreds of Syrians leave Kurdish-held Al-Hol camp

More than 500 Syrians, some related to alleged Islamic State group members, quit the overcrowded Kurdish-run camp of Al-Hol in the northeast of the war-torn country Monday, Kurdish officials said. An AFP reporter saw dozens of women lugging their belongings onto trucks, and others feeding their children before their departure. Some were accompanied by chickens and sheep, while Kurdish…

Curb Your Enthusiasm: What France Expects From a Biden Presidency

Few in France will miss Donald Trump. According to a survey released by the Pew Research Center in January, only 20 percent of the French population have confidence in the U.S. president, compared to 32 percent in the U.K. and 13 percent in Germany. And French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile efforts to cultivate his American counterpart on a range of policy issues resulted in some memorable encounters, but also, more often than not, in bitter disappointment.

It may come as a surprise, then, that the French government’s enthusiasm regarding the prospects of working with the incoming Democratic administration of President-elect Joe Biden is decidedly measured.