Virtually Islamic Blog

Gary R. Bunt

Bitcoin and IS

Kurdistan24, Islamic State using cryptocurrencies but not to launch attacks in Europe: Europol, 20 Sep 2018 "The Islamic State (IS) has used cryptocurrency such as Zcash to fund its terrorist activities online, but has not done so directly to finance attacks in Europe, the EU police agency Europol said in a recent report.

"In its 2018 Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA), the law enforcement agency found that, while IS continues to use the internet and cyber-tools “to spread and inspire acts of terrorism,” it had not used such means in direct attacks on European soil."

Islamic Studies Pathways - Revived

I will be revising/reviving Islamic Studies Pathways, which I started in 1996. Its most recent incarnation was on Tumblr, so I am linking to it here. Watch this space for further revisions.

Building Resilience for Terrorism Researchers

Peter King, Vox-Pol, Building Resilience for Terrorism Researchers, September 19, 2018
While this is not my immediate area, I appreciate many of the points made by Peter King in this article relating to methodology and subject related 'fatigue' and stress.

Debunking Myths on Gender and Extremism

Rachel Bryson, Debunking Myths on Gender and Extremism, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, "In this collection of papers, experts weigh in on assumptions about women’s roles in violent Islamist extremism that hold back informed policymaking."

Hashtag Islam video

Promo film for 'Hashtag Islam'

al-Qaeda in Yemen

albawaba, Al Qaeda in Yemen is Down But Not Out, 18 Sep 2018, "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, has been on a roller coaster of fortune over the past few years of the Yemen conflict. A heavy drone campaign against the group, as well as their territorial losses, has taken away the gains the group made in the early years of the war.

"But this shouldn’t be taken to mean that the AQAP threat is on the wane. How much of a threat AQAP presents in future depends on how Yemen will emerge from its horrific war, and how much help it is given recovering."
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