The conventional wisdom is that the Boko Haram faction that calls itself the Islamic State in West African (ISWA) is less brutal than Abubakar Shekau’s rival faction, notorious for the Chibok school girl kidnapping and the targeting of civilians. There is some truth to this: ISWA has avoided using female and child suicide bombers and it does not seem to indiscriminately murder entire villages. Its rhetoric does not glory in murder like Shekau’s.

Reading selections for the weekend of February 19, 2016.

Robin Yassin-Kassab discusses the complexity of the situation in Syria as the US contemplates action against the use of chemical weapons. Kevin Alexander Davis argues that the national dialogue in Y…

With the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 this past Saturday, we share resources that readers flagged for us or that we otherwise missed about that day and its consequences

The Multinational Force & Observers’ interactive map of the Sinai. Robin Yassin-Kassab, on his blog Qunfuz, says that last week’s protests sparked by a video mocking Mohammed are misguided, calling …