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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 18 Nov 2025
    • India
    • Terrorism

    Terrorism returns to Delhi with a troubling new profile

    Abhijnan Rej
    A murky explosion in India last week dredges up old concerns.
  • 17 Nov 2025
    • Terrorism
    • United States

    Is left-wing terrorism returning?

    Daniel Byman
    Incidents are indeed up sharply, but lethality remains extremely low compared with right-wing and jihadist violence.
  • 11 Nov 2025
    • Afghanistan
    • Bangladesh
    • Terrorism

    Why does the Taliban remain a point of influence in Bangladesh?

    Saqlain Rizve
    Afghanistan’s extreme form of Islam has seeped into subtle spaces – and risks Dhaka’s reputation as a global player.
  • 15 Oct 2025
    • Afghanistan
    • Terrorism

    The enduring danger of Zawahiri’s vision

    Naveen Khan
    A new biography reveals how the slain al-Qaeda leader created an ideology and infrastructure that outlived him.
  • 10 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Terrorism
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • International law
    • Syria

    Australia’s quiet returnees from Syria are in fact a loud warning

    Khalid Koser , Lilla Schumicky-Logan
    Leaving detainees stranded in Syria doesn’t reduce risk – it can export the very insecurity governments hope to prevent.
  • 21 Jul 2025
    • India
    • Terrorism

    India’s Naxals: Why do they fight?

    Abhijnan Rej
    A communist insurgency in India has confoundedly persisted for decades.
  • 4 Jun 2025
    • India
    • Pakistan
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Terrorism

    India’s concern could reshape Australia's Pakistan defence ties

    Kim Heriot-Darragh
    It’s a good time for Canberra to reassess military cooperation with Islamabad given limited influence and competing Indo-Pacific priorities.
  • 23 May 2025
    • Intelligence and security
    • Terrorism
    • International law
    • Israel
    • Middle East Conflict

    Israeli embassy staff killings expose the limits of diplomatic protection

    Nina Marković Khaze
    Transnational dangers are amplified by extremist ideologies online.
  • 21 May 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Technology

    How extremists are manipulating AI chatbots

    James Paterson
    Chatbots are exploiting our need for connection and that’s bad news for those countering online radicalisation.
  • 30 Apr 2025
    • China
    • India
    • Terrorism
    • Trade

    Tariffs and terrorism are derailing China-India rapprochement

    Chietigj Bajpaee
    And that’s where the 21st century contest will be felt most.
  • 29 Apr 2025
    • India
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Terrorism
    • United States

    Kashmir and what’s next after the Pahalgam attack: How India’s partners could help in this crisis

    Arzan Tarapore
    Stepping up overflight surveillance in the Indian Ocean would be a good start.
  • 23 Apr 2025
    • India
    • Terrorism

    Terrorist attack marks grim Kashmir milestone

    Abhijnan Rej
    The attack aims to reignite tensions just as Kashmir and India had begun to establish a new regional and international narrative.
  • 3 Apr 2025
    • Terrorism
    • United States

    The post-9/11 “counterterrorism” failure

    Hussain Nadim
    The counterterrorism economy, where vast sums of money continue to flow into security operations, has too often failed to deliver meaningful results.
  • 20 Mar 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Türkiye

    Türkiye makes steps towards peace with the Kurdish PKK

    William Gourlay
    The White House fracas over Ukraine overshadowed a major move in resolving one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.
  • 3 Mar 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Sex and Gender
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Emerging Threats

    The hidden national security threat: Misogynistic extremism

    Emma Gerhardy
    Hate against women is often the precursor to radicalisation and mass violence. It’s time to address the connection.
  • 26 Feb 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges

    Extremism from the mainstream

    James Paterson
    It is becoming more difficult and less predictable to identify the ideological bases motivating violent action.
  • 9 Dec 2024
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Syria

    Beyond Assad: Jihadist strongholds and the threat to the West

    James Paterson
    The rebel offensive needed a safe base from which to operate – and bitter experience tells of the wider dangers involved.
  • 15 Aug 2024
    • Australia
    • Intelligence and security
    • Terrorism

    Right-sizing the terror threat

    Ben Scott
    And living with risk.
  • 27 May 2024
    • Terrorism

    Remember al-Qaeda? The danger hasn’t gone away

    Kalicharan Veera Singam
    While ISIS gets headlines, al-Qaeda’s quiet revival risks going unnoticed.
  • 5 Apr 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Terrorism
    • Iran

    Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A spate of deadly insurgent attacks on Chinese nationals sends a message about vulnerability.
  • 26 Mar 2024
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Middle East
    • Syria

    Moscow attacks: Why Putin was quick to blame Ukraine

    Munira Mustaffa
    The Kremlin is covering its own mistakes in the bid to deflect attention.
  • 25 Mar 2024
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • Middle East

    Islamic State terror attack in Moscow a grim acknowledgement of global power status Russia seeks

    Lydia Khalil
    One of Moscow’s goals in the Middle East was in many ways similar to that of the United States – to prevent the spillover of extremism.
  • 8 Feb 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Al Qaeda
    • Emerging Threats
    • Islamic State
    • Maritime Security
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Terrorism
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Lebanon
    • Yemen

    Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry

    Ved Shinde
    The might of the US military no longer guarantees world order. There are new actors and new ecosystems in play.
  • 1 Sep 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Terrorism

    Can the Taliban contain Islamic State in Afghanistan?

    Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
    Concerns are growing about spillover attacks further into the region.
  • 31 May 2023
    • Al Qaeda
    • Emerging Threats
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism

    Misogyny is often the connection between overlapping far-right ideologies

    David Wells
    A holistic approach to addressing violent extremism starts with confronting deep-seated societal issues.
  • 23 May 2023
    • Australia
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law
    • War Crimes
    • Africa

    It’s time Australia branded Russia’s Wagner Group a terrorist organisation

    Isabella Currie , Matthew Sussex
    A record of abuses in conflicts from Ukraine to Africa makes designating the Russian group the right choice.
  • 17 Mar 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Al Qaeda
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • United States

    Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?

    Adam H. Dehsabzi
    Three of the world’s most influential powers have skin in the game when it comes to preventing another civil war.
  • 9 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Emerging Threats
    • Terrorism

    A strategy for securing Australian democracy

    Levi West
    Rising right-wing extremism threatens the liberties we take for granted, which means Canberra needs a new plan.
  • 6 Jan 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Terrorism

    Twenty years after Bali

    Sidney Jones
    Indonesia’s police, military and prisons were altered by the 2002 attack. Democratic backsliding may signal an undoing.
  • 5 Dec 2022
    • Al Qaeda
    • Cyber Security
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges

    Why outsourcing counter-terrorism online won’t work in future

    David Wells
    Policing online hate speech currently falls into a murky space shared between governments and big tech.
  • 22 Nov 2022
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism

    The militarisation of motherhood: repatriating ISIS’s Western women

    Kiriloi M. Ingram
    A “victim” versus “fighter” dichotomy must be overcome to understand the strategic role envisioned for women.
  • 14 Oct 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Pakistan
    • Terrorism
    • Human rights

    Enemies of education are back in Malala’s hometown? 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    Fresh attacks by the Pakistani Taliban mark an alarming regression in the decade-long progress made in the region.
  • 20 Sep 2022
    • Terrorism

    Right-wing extremists: the danger not of bombs but ballots

    Daniel Byman
    The movement is clearly capable of violence yet proved divided and poorly trained. But campaigning is another matter.
  • 14 Sep 2022
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Terrorism

    Bali 2002: When global terrorism first came close to home

    Ian Kemish
    An extraordinary consular response followed the deadly attack – lessons of crisis that would become all too familiar.
  • 12 Sep 2022
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Review

    Understanding global right-wing extremism

    William Allchorn
    Tackling the threat first means appreciating the scope, appeal and transnational character of the narratives driving it.
  • 11 Aug 2022
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism

    The very personal legacy of Ayman al-Zawahiri

    Lydia Khalil
    I was twice an enemy to al-Qaeda’s leader, both near and far. His influence in seeding militant Islamists was profound.
  • 2 Aug 2022
    • Afghanistan
    • Islamic State
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism

    Killing the al-Qaeda chief leaves endless questions

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    The US has declared justice after more than 20 years hunting Ayman al-Zawahiri. But a battle with extremism will go on.
  • 10 Sep 2021
    • Al Qaeda
    • Afghanistan War
    • Iraq War
    • Terrorism

    The many consequences of a clear blue day on 11 September, 2001

    Lydia Khalil
    The butterfly effect of the global war on terror has had far-reaching impacts on the freedoms it was meant to defend.
  • 8 Sep 2021
    • United States
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism
    • Review

    9/11: A President reacts on a day of fear and anger

    Michael Fullilove
    An absorbing new documentary captures the first response of the Bush administration to the horror inflicted on America.
  • 8 Sep 2021
    • Terrorism
    • Australia

    Policing national security since 9/11

    Warwick Jones
    Terrorist threats set the Australian Federal Police a global challenge. But one to be balanced with priorities at home.
  • 7 Sep 2021
    • Afghanistan War
    • Terrorism
    • Afghanistan

    The evolving Taliban-ISK rivalry

    Amira Jadoon , Andrew Mines , Abdul Sayed
    With the US withdrawal, the Taliban must decide if cooperating with an old enemy could risk losing to a new one.
  • 26 Jul 2021
    • Syria
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • Migration

    Bringing home Australian children trapped in Syrian camps

    Rodger Shanahan
    Faced with thorny legal and security obstacles for the adults, it may be better to return children alone.
  • 15 Jun 2021
    • Terrorism
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar, terrorism and the demands of international politics

    Andrew Selth
    Name-calling is one thing, but the new kind of civil war may cause problems for the opposition movement.
  • 27 May 2021
    • Terrorism
    • Technology

    Can violent extremist content online be eliminated?

    Belinda Barnet , Christine Agius
    The Christchurch Call is an opportunity for change — but there is much more to be done.
  • 4 May 2021
    • Terrorism
    • China
    • Pakistan

    Pakistani Taliban turn on China

    Adnan Aamir
    Any friend of the government in Islamabad appears to be an enemy of the terrorist group.
  • 19 Mar 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Terrorism
    • Africa

    The Mozambique Channel is the next security hotspot

    David Brewster
    An Islamist insurgency is spilling danger into a major shipping lane, and countries must decide who they want to fix it.
  • 18 Mar 2021
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • New Zealand

    Lessons from Christchurch

    Hannah Léser
    The findings of a New Zealand inquiry apply broadly: government leadership is needed to combat far-right extremism.
  • 23 Feb 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • New Zealand

    Terrorism and New Zealand’s dual citizenship conundrum

    Rodger Shanahan
    This is an age in which dual nationality is widespread, and problems related to alleged ISIS members were foreseeable.
  • 2 Dec 2020
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism
    • Iran

    Al-Qaeda: The core problem

    Lydia Khalil
    The killing of senior terrorist Abu Mohammed al-Masri on a Tehran street raises questions about al-Qaeda’s ties to Iran.
  • 24 Nov 2020
    • Global Issues
    • Terrorism
    • Technology

    After Christchurch: Mapping online right-wing extremists

    Brian Ballsun-Stanton , Lise Waldek , Julian Droogan
    For all the hate, sometimes extending to talk of violence, the extremist milieu is also a highly social space.
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