radicalization

A surfer falls from his board while riding after sunset in Cardiff, California.

The radicalization of a surfer dude

Laleh Khadivi's new novel chronicles the transformation of a lackadaisical, college-bound Californian into a soldier for militant Islam.

The radicalization of a surfer dude
A conservative Saudi Arabian cleric has said women who drive risk damaging their ovaries and bearing children with clinical problems

Meet the Saudi woman who ignited a firestorm when she got behind the wheel

Meet the Saudi woman who ignited a firestorm when she got behind the wheel
Laura Passoni took her four-year-old son to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS and realized quickly she'd made a terrible mistake. "From that moment I did everything to try to leave so that my son wouldn’t become a terrorist,” she says.

A Belgian woman explains why she joined ISIS, and why she came back

A Belgian woman explains why she joined ISIS, and why she came back
Mubin Shaikh

He traveled to Syria to study Islam. He came back de-radicalized.

He traveled to Syria to study Islam. He came back de-radicalized.
A photo of Bangladeshi American blogger, Avijit Roy, last year holding a book on Rabindranath Tagore. Roy blogged about scientific thought and apathy towards religion, taboo subjects in his home country of Bangladesh.

An atheist blogger in Bangladesh is hacked to death by religious fanatics

An atheist blogger in Bangladesh is hacked to death by religious fanatics
An man holds a picture in support of Cherif and Said Kouachi during a demonstration against Charlie Hebdo in Kabul. The brothers stormed the French satirical magazine's Paris offices in January, killing 12 people.

Pakistan is an unexpected leader in rehabilitating former jihadis

Experts are realizing there's no way to capture or kill our way out of the problem of Westerners joining radical groups in places like Iraq or Syria. Luckily, there is an increasing number of programs aimed at bringing these mostly young men back into the fold.

Pakistan is an unexpected leader in rehabilitating former jihadis
Abderrazak and Alexandre Cherif in Hatay, Turkey. Alexandre's face is blurred because he's minor who is currently in French prison.

The teen had enough of war. He came home from Syria. And promptly got arrested.

Abderrazak Cherif spent months and thousands of dollars trying to coax his son back from jihad in Syria. But when he finally succeeded, French authorities whisked the teenager off to jail, where his mental health is deteriorating.

The teen had enough of war. He came home from Syria. And promptly got arrested.
Veiled women walk past a billboard that carries a verse from the Koran urging women to wear a hijab in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa.

Western young women who join ISIS can't fight, but they sure can tweet

British researchers are studying Western women from afar who have migrated into ISIS territory to join the jihadist group. The women jihadists post often on social networks. And some say they aren't content to be militant wives and mothers. They are itching to fight for the Islamic State.

Western young women who join ISIS can't fight, but they sure can tweet
Mohammed Jamil lived across the street from Iman Shawan, who left the Kurdish community to join ISIS.

Kurdish men are joining ISIS to kill their own people

Hundreds of Kurds have crossed the front lines to join ISIS, essentially joining the fight against their own people. It’s shocking to many in the Kurdish semi-autonomous region of the Iraq, but government-paid preachers may have a hand in the phenomenon.

Kurdish men are joining ISIS to kill their own people
A screenshot from a video released by four Bahraini men calling on their Sunni countrymen to take up arms against the country's ruling family and Shiite majority.

ISIS looks to spread its recruiting and violence to the Persian Gulf

A recent video from ISIS targeting recruits from Bahrain is part of an apparent new surge in calls for recruits from the Gulf states, where many observers think governments have turned a blind eye to extremism. And these new efforts are calling for people to take up arms at home, not just in Iraq or Syria.

ISIS looks to spread its recruiting and violence to the Persian Gulf
Usama Hasan

Hundreds of Britons, including the man who killed James Foley, are fighting for ISIS

The man who executed American reporter James Foley spoke with a British accent, presumably one of hundreds of British nationals that authorities think are fighting alongside members of ISIS. So why are they there, and how can they be stopped?

Hundreds of Britons, including the man who killed James Foley, are fighting for ISIS