Tag Archives: ISIS

When Prophecy Succeeds?: The Islamic State Problem as an Imaginary Reality

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

The main point of this essay is that the Islamic State’s beliefs are so entrenched in its adherents’ identities that defeating them is all but an exercise in futility. There is no way to put the genie back in the … Continue reading →

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The Islamic State Blows Up Sand: Time to Pull Out the Jokes

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

As many of you know, the Islamic State has resorted to destroying ancient architecture in Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apparently buildings that predate their prophet are offensive. So, in addition to murdering innocent civilians for not following the … Continue reading →

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Google Searches for “ISIS” and “Join ISIS” Compared

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

The other day I posted about a remarkable surge of people using Google to search for ISIS at a rate that dwarfs the previous 11 years of searches for other terrorist organizations. I discovered this using Google Trends. The visual … Continue reading →

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Interest in Islamic State Unprecedented: And Why Do We Care So Much?

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

[NOTE: Most of this was originally posted to my personal blog yesterday. For this post I’ve made some alterations appropriate to this blog’s theme.] Today I started playing around with Google Trends, a web search analysis of Google searches in real time, … Continue reading →

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The Islamic State through Three Waltzian Lenses: An Analysis in IR Theory

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

In 1959 heavy-hitting, contemporary political scientist Kenneth Waltz published Man, the State, and War, a required reading for both undergraduate and graduate students in international politics. It’s often the fist book students of politics read because it gives them an … Continue reading →

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ISIS Shows Christians What True Persecution Is

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

ISIS is great at making terrible and extremely graphic and overproduced propaganda films. In the latest piece to cross my desk, an ISIS branch in Libya parades 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian men onto a beach in Northern Libya. The orange … Continue reading →

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A Brief Analysis of the ISIS Problem Post-Burning Video

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Rayan Zehn

“ISIS Burns Jordanian Pilot Alive” has been a major headline in the news during the last two days. It’s such a major story that the news articles of the Jordanian executions of Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli have been swallowed by … Continue reading →

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New ISIS Flag Design Unveiled

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Rayan Zehn
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Dear ISIS: Without math there is no future in science

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Rayan Zehn

A few days ago I stumbled across this article from Inquisitr: “ISIS Bans Children From Learning Math And Social Studies.” Essentially, the Islamic State is saying that they are willing to sacrifice their children’s future in order to live up … Continue reading →

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An open letter to atheists, Christians, and Muslims about working together to condemn ISIS

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Rayan Zehn

My criticism of religion must take a back seat for a moment. Lately I’ve been writing a lot more about ISIS — and with good cause. The Islamic State is the perfect example of what happens when religion goes horribly … Continue reading →

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