ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Lincoln Clapper This past week Europe experienced its second major terrorist attack within the last five months. The ISIS-claimed attack in Brussels signifies again just how real and how serious the militant group is about training, equipping, and tactically carrying out an assault in Europe. Although the attack appears to have been provoked or moved ahead of schedule due to the arrest of Salah Abdeslam (Belgium-born, French national personally involved in the Paris attacks), what is apparent is this attack was forthcoming based on the materials found in the apartment of the attackers, and the overall sophistication of the bombings suggests that this was not a reactionary, random plot. With details of the attackers released, their chief bomb maker Najim Laachraoui, along with two brothers Ibrahim and Khalid el-Barkraoui, are reported as Belgium nationals. As the search continues for the fourth perpetrator, questions are continually raised about where the next possible attack could be,...

Lincoln Clapper The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become somewhat of a revelation to the international community over the last several months. Commencing with the desertion from Al-Qaeda, to the self-proclamation of Caliph by its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and finally the surge in Iraq and Syria, each move has occurred without a countervailing effort. In order to conceptualize the mentality of ISIS and its motivation, look no further than inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to examine how its puritanical Wahhabi doctrine has enabled the ideology of ISIS and terrorist groups alike, and will continue to do so for potential Islamic extremist groups in the future. It’s all too obvious that the theology of ISIS is reciprocal to the Wahhabi religious doctrine that has governed Saudi Arabia from its inception to this very day. A Brief History of the Deal at the Heart of Saudi Society Wahhabism refers to the Islamic doctrine founded by Muhammad Ibn’ Abdul-Wahhab. B...

Spanish authorities have appealed for the public’s help in locating a stolen piece of equipment which contains radioactive elements. An orange suitcase, which is “unlikely” to be dangerous if not tampered with, was stolen in the southern city of Seville. The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) is asking the public to help seek the case which contains a computer device used to measure soil density and moisture. The equipment belongs to the Studies Center of Materials and Building Control, SA (Cemosa), and contains two low activity radioactive sources: cesium 137 and americium 241. While the missing equipment has been placed in the category of threat level 4, “unlikely to be dangerous for people,” CSN warns that anyone who locates the equipment should restrain themselves from tampering with the case and immediately notify the authorities. Radioactive risk levels set by the International Atomic Energy Agency have a scale of one to five, with five being the least dangerous category. The theft o...