The Taliban upholds the status quo with their choice of Emir

Four days after Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province, the Taliban have named their new Emir as Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada. The swift appointment of Haibatullah, a religious scholar who was one of Mansour’s two deputies, reflects the Taliban’s recognition of the need to protect the movement from further fragmentation. Although a conservative choice,...

Paving the Way to Peace? US Drone Strike Targets Taliban Leader Akhtar Mansour

Washington has indicated that the death of Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour will bolster the peace process. However, it is doubtful that Mansour’s demise will advantage the Afghan government and its Western partners, either militarily or at the negotiating table.

Britain’s Daesh Difficulty: The New IRA’s Opportunity?

Edward Burke

Improved bomb-making capabilities and its desire to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising have made the ‘New IRA’ a genuine threat. With British security resources focused on countering Daesh, the group could see now as the opportune moment for it to make its mark.

Friends, Sponsors and Bureaucracy: An Initial Look at the Daesh Database

Clare Ellis and Raffaello Pantucci

A preliminary analysis of leaked Daesh recruitment files by RUSI experts suggests that the social processes underlying the radicalisation and mobilisation of foreign fighters still mirrors those of Al-Qa’ida.

Disrupting Daesh Finance is About More Than Oil

Having belatedly moved to degrade and destroy the primary Daesh funding source within its reach, the international community must now embark on the next phase through targeted financial strategies against middlemen and capacity building in peripheral economies.