By: Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo credit: United States Department of State In 2015, the P5+1 and Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which intended to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.[i] The agreement inflamed passions on both sides of the United States political divide. Republicans in Congress insisted that the JCPOA deal would allow … Continue reading The Iran Nuclear Agreement as a Deterrent for Cyberattacks
Author: Ben Schaefer
Looking Back on Marawi: An Analysis of Islamic State Terrorism in the Philippines
By: Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo credit: Jes Aznar for The New York Times On May 23, 2017 Philippine insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State captured the world’s attention when they seized the city of Marawi on the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao.[[i]] Five months later, with little fanfare from mainstream media, Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte announced … Continue reading Looking Back on Marawi: An Analysis of Islamic State Terrorism in the Philippines
Predicting Terrorism: Implications for Big Data in Public Safety
By Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo by: bloomberg.com In the recent past, the use of predictive technology in public safety seemed like a distant concept, best kept in the realm of science fiction. A 2002 film called Minority Report—hailed even today as the most prominent pop-culture representation of predictive policing—set the standard for using predictive technology far … Continue reading Predicting Terrorism: Implications for Big Data in Public Safety
The Cyber Party of God: How Hezbollah Could Transform Cyberterrorism
By: Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo by: American Security Project Since 1982, Hezbollah, the Lebanese “Party of God” and Iran-backed Shiite terrorist organization, has antagonized its enemies through a potent mix of armed attacks and psychological warfare. Among these tactics, Hezbollah pioneered the use of cyber-operations as a tool of coercion over a decade ago and … Continue reading The Cyber Party of God: How Hezbollah Could Transform Cyberterrorism
The Islamic State in North Africa: Assessing the Potential of a Maghrebi Offshoot
By Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo by: Associated Foreign Press With the recent fall of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, the time is ripe to speculate on the caliphate’s next moves. Discord and chaos in North Africa—from Libya’s fractured political landscape to Tunisia’s returning foreign fighters—leads IS analysts and foreign policy practitioners to … Continue reading The Islamic State in North Africa: Assessing the Potential of a Maghrebi Offshoot