Archive for the ‘New Statesman’ Category

Loners to wannabe terrorists

Posted: November 26, 2008 in New Statesman
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A new piece for the New Statesman which starts to explore converts, a project I have been trying to find time to work on myself separately. This is an off-shoot of a bigger thing looking at the phenomenon of converts in UK plots. Any thoughts or reactions on this topic, or pointers to others working on it would be very interesting and welcome.

http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/11/islamic-reilly-cases-found

Loners to wannabe terrorists

Raffaello Pantucci

Published 26 November 2008

In two separate cases, white British loners found acceptance online among Islamic extremists and then attempted to detonate bombs.

A block of flats in Plymouth where Nicky Reilly was thought to have lived.

Presiding Justice Calvert-Smith declared that a twelve month delay on sentencing requested by the defence in the sad case of wannabe suicide bomber Nicky Reilly would not be acceptable last Friday. For many, the conclusion in this case seems to be that it was a one-off situation where extremists took advantage of a person suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome who had a mental age of 10. But while Reilly’s case is the most prominent to have reached the public imagination, thanks to the advanced nature of his plot, there are similarities to be found in other cases in the year preceding Reilly’s attempt.

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Al Qaeda’s Delayed Release

Posted: September 19, 2008 in New Statesman
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A productive set of days. Here’s another one for the New Statesman – again, some of the ideas should feature in a longer piece i need to finish. Also, this draws from a recent workshop we did.

http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/09/online-release-qaeda-videos

Al Qaeda’s delayed release

Raffaello Pantucci

Published 19 September 2008

Extremist websites are abuzz this week with barely contained rage at the delayed online release by Al Qaeda’s media outlet the As-Sahab Foundation of their annual video celebrating the anniversary of 9/11.

 

Since the atrocities on 11 September 2001 Al Qaeda hasn’t missed the opportunity of an anniversary to celebrate their murderous attacks. Usually a video is released like clockwork on 11 September. It inevitably features an array of Al Qaeda stars like Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri who celebrate the advance of their global jihad to a backdrop of Arabic nasheeds (Islamic songs) and footage from battlefields around the world. The purpose of the release, this year entitled “The Results of Seven Years of the Crusades,” is to show the world and supporters that Al Qaeda is alive and well seven years after its biggest achievement.

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No Template for Terrorists

Posted: September 2, 2008 in New Statesman
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My latest for the NS – am breaking my usual position of writing for them only on American politics, but this seemed like a good outlet for this piece which examines the recently leaked MI5 report that didn’t exactly shock those looking at these issues. Some of the ideas are feeding a bigger project which we are currently pursuing. Any thoughts or reactions welcome!

http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2008/08/society-extremist-individuals 

No template for terrorists

Extremist ideas have taken a much deeper hold in our broader society than we might like to admit, argues Raffaello Pantucci

 

The leaking of an MI5 report on violent extremism in the UK provided official confirmation of a conclusion that may have been all too obvious to someone studying the evolution of Britain’s terrorist threat: there is no “one size fits all” template that can be applied to the homegrown Islamist danger the UK faces.

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Flip-Flopping

Posted: July 7, 2008 in New Statesman
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My latest in the NS on the US elections. In retrospect, the point could have been made a little harder, but oh well. Still, i do find this almost perverse fixation on the flipflop obnoxious, as naturally people will change their views when they hear new ideas. Irritatingly, i saw after i had written this, that Julian Baggini had done something similar in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/05/1). Back to terrorism next, tho am waiting for it to be published before i put it here.

http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/07/flip-flop-vote-usa-obama

Flip-flopping

Raffaello Pantucci

Published 07 July 2008

The reality is that the fixation on the “flip flop” is really little more than a catchy phrase that essentially captures what politician’s have been doing for years

 

No sooner than Hillary conceded to Obama then the US presidential campaign got underway in earnest and with it came the usual rampant speculation.

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Fixing Bush’s Legacy

Posted: June 3, 2008 in New Statesman
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My latest for the New Statesman about the Obama potential. I see it has already attracted ire, though i thought it was rather placid effort. Ah well.

http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/06/obama-usa-vote-potential-world

Fixing Bush’s Legacy

Having recently returned to planet earth from a ten day stop-over in Washington, it would appear as though Barack Obama is on the cusp of being a shoo-in not just for the Democratic nomination but for the presidency as well.

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New Statesman

Posted: April 6, 2008 in New Statesman
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So, to get this rolling at last, i am going to start by simply placing links to certain previous works i have done. I write occasionally for the New Statesman, a British political magazine, and my writings for them can be found at: http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/raffaello_pantucci

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