How to Delegitimize the Practice of Hostage Taking

Photo credit: REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins.

One of the conclusions from the Israel-Hamas war is the need for renewed, concerted action to address hostage taking. There are concrete diplomatic and law enforcement actions that the international community should take to delegitimize this practice and raise the cost to hostage takers, governments that also employ this tactic, and governments that provide safe […]

The Danger of Failed States Surrounding Israel

Middle East Illustration

Four months into the war in Gaza and the cafés in Tel Aviv are full. It’s nearly impossible to find a spot in trendy restaurants on weekends. Yet no one should be mistaken. Israel is not back to normal.  A radio or television plays in the background of nearly every café and shop, and when […]

Making Somalia Safe Again

Somali security officers drive past a scene of an al-Shabaab attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 20, 2022. Photo credit: REUTERS/Feisal Omar.

In January 2018, I traveled via armored convoy over 20 kilometers of bad roads from a regional airport to the Hirshabelle provincial state capital of Jowar in central Somalia. Protected by Burundian soldiers of the African Union peacekeeping force, we sped through countryside and villages controlled by the al-Shabaab terror group. In Jowar, the UN […]