Why ISIS Declared War on Soccer

The Sport Keeps Winning Over Hearts and Minds Across the Muslim World, Bridging East and West

It’s not surprising that the crazed “Soldiers of the Caliphate” terrorists selected the France-Germany soccer match at the Stade de France as the central target in their assault on Paris. For starters, the match was a high-profile attraction bringing together 80,000 fans, including French President François Hollande, in a tight space. And, as American moviegoers across generations can tell you (see Black Sunday from 1977 or The Sum of All Fears from 2002), televised sports events present highly dramatic, desirable targets for terrorists.

Indeed, the Stade de France was the one …

Those Jingoistic, Nationalistic, Patriotic Cartoons

From World War I to the War on Terror, Cartoons Have Served as Propaganda, Entertainment, and Political Tools

Cartoonists are propagandists and satirists, artists and writers. They make us laugh—in recognition and shame—and enrage and offend. At an “Open Art” event co-presented by the Getty in conjunction with …

The Morality of Murder

The ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Attackers, Like So Many People Who Use Violence, Probably Thought They Were Acting Righteously

The Charlie Hebdo massacre was utterly despicable. To nearly everyone, including nearly all Muslims, what the perpetrators did was a terrible moral transgression. From everything I’ve read about the events, …

Are All Terrorists Crazy?

From the French Reign of Terror to the Sydney Siege, Madness Is Too Easy of an Explanation

Each time a terrorist act occurs in the world, the specter of madness looms on the horizon.

On October 22, 2014, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau fatally wounded a soldier on Parliament Hill …

How Anders Behring Breivik Changed Norway

The Country Tried—and Failed—to Become More Democratic and Open in the Wake of a Terrorist Attack

Three years ago this week, Norway experienced the worst terrorist attack in its history. Anders Behring Breivik placed a handmade 2,100-pound bomb just outside the prime minister’s office in downtown …