Is it time for Britain to reassess its relationship with Saudi Arabia?

By Lucette Davies

As the world watches with horror the unprecedented violence of Daesh fighters national security has reached the top of the political agenda in many nations. The Islamic State fighters were rejected by Al-Qaeda because of their extremist nature.  When the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks criticises anyone as being too extreme the alarm bells need to do a bit more than just ring.

Is Islam facing the centuries of religious battles that Christianity experienced?

 

By Paul Leach

 

In 1517 a disgruntled German monk sent a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz protesting the sale of indulgences. In doing so, he set in motion a series of events that caused hundreds of years of bloody warfare in the name of religion, the repercussions of which can still be felt to this very day. (Take a trip to any Rangers / Celtic football derby if you are in any doubt of the validity of this statement.)

Amateur soldiers and the difficult case for war

Sketch by Matthew Hynds

 By Matthew Hynds

On June 10th, a British former currency trader returned from Syria, having spent five months fighting Islamic State. The man – identified in the media simply as “Harry” – was horrified by the brutality he saw on television, and felt motivated to take up arms against the radical Islamists, in solidarity with the Kurds.

Libya, is it really bad news for Europe?

By Jammila Hekmoun

As our media focuses on the crises in Iraq and Syria we could be forgiven for being unaware of the threat that exits from Isis forces in Libya.  The political chaos in Libya rivals closely the turbulent events elsewhere in the Middle East, but the proximity of Libya to European shores suggests that there is now a threat that we cannot ignore in Libya.