On April 21, 2016, The Federalist published an all-new op-ed by Elan Journo, in which he argues that we are losing the war against groups like ISIS, the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood until we understand the motivation — the ideology — that unites them.
Last week, the Claremont Review of Books published Elan Journo’s review of Ilan Berman’s Iran's Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic's Quest for Global Power.
The idea of separating religion from state was a major advance in political thought, yet massively undervalued. So much so that many in the West take it for granted. Two recent articles — one about Pakistan, another about France — underscore how that idea deserves greater appreciation and strengthening.
Did you catch those breaking news reports, right after the San Bernardino shooting, suggesting that the attack was work-place violence? You might chalk that up to off the cuff speculation. Yet there was a kind of desperation behind the insistence on finding some generic, non-ideological motive. Yet it turned out to be what many expected from the outset, a jihadist attack; one of the murderers had pledged allegiance to ISIS.
From the Wall Street Journal, on the butchers who carried out last week’s attack in San Bernardino: “Agents are pursuing ‘the very real possibility’ that Ms. Malik was the catalyst for the violence, said one official. So far her husband ‘seems like someone who was searching for answers,’ the official said. . . An initial review of the couple’s online activity indicates one or both explored propaganda from al Qaeda and the Nusra Front, a terror group fighting in Syria, officials said.”