Another short piece in Chinese, this time exploring the evolution of terrorism over the year. It is for the newspaper at my home institution in China. I will have translations for this and the previous one in Chinese soon. Please write directly at my contact page if you have any questions. 6 国际恐怖主义出现新变化 自“9·11”事件后，恐怖主义日益成为世界各国不得不面对的一种非传统威胁。2010年的国际恐怖主义发生了一个明显的转向，即由奥萨马·本·拉登直接指挥的全球性攻击转变为基地组织策划的局部袭击，这种袭击没有固定的时间、地点和方式。以去年圣诞节炸机事件为起点，今年的国际恐怖袭击一直吸引着各国学者和媒体的广泛关注。1月24日，阿拉伯半岛电视台播放的视频称，圣诞炸机案是拉登对美国总统奥巴马宣战，未来还将发生更多针对美国的袭击行动。尽管美国予以否认，针对美国的恐怖袭击却接二连三。5月，费萨尔·沙赫扎德制造了纽约时报广场爆炸案。前不久，基地组织也门分支的恐怖组织试图把一些装有炸弹的邮包通过国际航空寄往美国。除了美国，在俄罗斯、阿富汗、伊拉克、巴基斯坦和其他国家也接连发生了一系列恐怖袭击事件。12月，一名由基地组织伊拉克安全专家新近招募的伊拉克裔瑞典人制造了爆炸事件。对于如此集中的恐怖主义袭击，美国《新闻周刊》、《时代周刊》、英国《泰晤士报》、《每日电讯报》，以及德国《南德意志报》等媒体纷纷发表专家评论，认为尽管策划实施袭击的组织声称他们隶属于基地组织，但这些袭击与基地组织的直接关联并不紧密，许多事件与本·拉登也基本无关。这表明对藏身于巴基斯坦的基地组织核心人物的军事打击非常有效，基地组织已经十分脆弱。文章还指出，恐怖袭击的这种由全球到局部的转变令人担忧，因为地区性恐怖组织的袭击行为有时更具创新性，国际恐怖主义思想在全球将会滋生更多危险行为。 （潘睿凡Raffaello [...]
Archive for December, 2010
China-Pakistan
Posted: December 27, 2010 in Oriental Morning PostTags: Afghanistan, China, counter-terrorism, Europe, Pakistan, Sino-West relations
A new article in Chinese on Sino-Pak relations for a Chinese paper called the Oriental Morning Post. It tries to explain to a Chinese audience why it is the West is so worried about Afghanistan and Pakistan and why they would like the Chinese to do more to help. Unfortunately for the time being, all [...]
Catching Lone Attackers
Posted: December 20, 2010 in Free Rad!calsTags: counter-terrorism, Europe, Iraq, lone wolves, radicalization, sweden, terrorism
A new post for Free Rad!cals, this exploring once again the issue of Lone Wolves. I have written a number of pieces about them previously, and am working on publishing a longer report for ICSR about them. Any pointers or thoughts on Lone Wolves I may have missed would be hugely appreciated. Catching Lone Attackers [...]
Shanghai View: Welcome back BBC and hello Wikileaks!
Posted: December 16, 2010 in Whose World Order?Tags: bbc, China, great firewall, Internet, US, wikileaks
My latest for the ECFR blog looking at the internet in China. This is a fascinating subject for those either side of it, confusing as it is. For example, this site is actually the wrong side at the moment, though for a while it was accessible. I have no idea for the rationale behind either [...]
Stockholm Bomber: Sign of a New Syndrome?
Posted: December 16, 2010 in HSTodayTags: Europe, Iraq, lone wolves, radicalization, sweden, terrorism, UK
A new piece for HSToday.us, this was originally meant for the magazine, but instead went up on the website. A very quick response to the Stockholm attempt. More on this as information comes to light. Stockholm Bomber: Sign of a New Syndrome? by Raff Pantucci Wednesday, 15 December 2010 Suicide bombing attempt raises perplexing questions [...]
Quotes in the Press
Posted: December 13, 2010 in QuotesTags: Afghanistan, China, counter-terrorism, Europe
I have been traveling hence the radio silence this week. However, I have done a couple of interviews while moving around which I thought I would share. The first is with a Russian outlet, Rosbolt.ru, looking at terrorism in Germany. The second is with a Romanian paper, Adevarul, on China’s reactions to events in Osl0. [...]
Trial of Would-be Assassin Illustrates al-Awlaki’s Influence on the British Jihad
Posted: December 3, 2010 in Terrorism MonitorTags: Anwar al awlaki, counter-radicalization, counter-terrorism, Europe, lone wolves, radicalization, terrorism, UK, war in iraq, Yemen
My latest for the Jamestown Foundation’s Global Terrorism Monitor, this time exploring the odd case of Roshonara Choudhry, which friends in the UK tell me is a really rather concerning sign about the levels of radicalization in the UK. It remains to be seen what actually ends up happening in the broader frame, but it [...]
Counter-productive counter-terror
Posted: December 1, 2010 in GuardianTags: counter-radicalization, counter-terrorism, lone wolves, radicalization, Somalia, terrorism, US, US counter-terrorism policy, US foreign policy
A new article for the Guardian exploring an issue I have had knocking around my head for a while, the issue of the use of informants in U.S. terror cases. It is a complex question, as it is hard to know what the alternative is sometimes. Being on the Guardian’s website, this has awakened a [...]
Carlos
Posted: December 1, 2010 in Free Rad!calsTags: carlos film review, carlos the jackal, counter-radicalization, counter-terrorism, Europe, international terrorism, radicalization, terrorism
A movie review this time at Free Rad!cals looking at the movie Carlos. I watched the extended version, which while hugely enjoyable was very long and could have been trimmed a bit. Still well worth watching though if you have the chance. Have written a few of these types of reviews at Free Rad!cals (this [...]
In Afghanistan, it’s only Chinese take-out
Posted: December 1, 2010 in Foreign PolicyTags: Afghanistan, China, UK, US, US foreign policy
A short article for Foreign Policy, expanding on my previous Survival article looking at China’s relationship with Afghanistan. This is a subject I am going to do some more work on, including building on a fascinating set of interviews I recently did in Beijing. As ever, any thoughts or pointers hugely appreciated. In Afghanistan, it’s [...]
