by Helen Jane Martin The US Congress has once again cried ‘Terrorist!’ With September came a congressional deadline in the US to determine whether the Haqqani network should be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Despite a rigorous debate on the issue that has left the Obama administration ‘deeply divided’ over the last two years the final …
By Helen Jane Martin Cases of deaths caused by US drone strikes are rarely far from front pages, with high-profile insurgents regularly falling victim to their new mechanised enemy. Yet, despite this publicity, reliable statistics are unavailable on the number of strikes, the number of deaths, and, importantly, the locations of strikes. This is not …
by Helen Jane Martin. An abyss for the lost and stolen, and a refuge for the takers, failed states are characterised as the black holes of the international system. Somalia, the archetypical failed state, is condemned by policy makers who maintain that it incubates terror, breeds crime, facilitates piracy and infects regions; with stereotypical images …
By Helen Jane Martin. The group Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad – colloquially known as Boko Haram – was founded some ten years ago and has recently caught the attention of the international community due to a proliferation in acts of grotesque and indiscriminate violence that have killed hundreds of Nigerians at a time. Human Rights …
