Are we safer from terrorist attacks since 9/11?
[Illustration by Tommaso Bisagni] On 11 September 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda members hijacked four American commercial planes: two crashed against the Twin Towers in New York City; a third in the Pentagon area (Washington D.C) and the fourth in Pennsylvania. In this day, often known as 9/11, nearly...
Can robots replace diplomats?
Article by Joana Lopes | Illustration by Matilde Morri Can robots replace diplomats? You might be thinking how strange and bizarre this question is. But is it really? The main question of this article took inspiration from a TED talk of the former French Ambassador to Sweden, David Cvach,...
From Afghanistan to Iraq and Syria: unwinnable wars?
Article by Joana Lopes | Illustration by Niccolò Cedeno Back in 2001, George W. Bush declared: “Either you are with us, or you are with terrorists”. Stated in the aftermath of September 11th (9/11), this quote roughly marks the moment in which U.S military forces were deployed to...
Why the new coronavirus is an asset for terrorists
Article by Joana Lopes | Illustration by Tommaso Bisagni Let’s consider the following argument: The coronavirus crisis has put the world in lockdown. Terrorists want to provoke mass causalities. Therefore, terrorist activity will decrease. This reasoning is a fallacy, for many reasons. For example, there are multiple types of...
Why mass surveillance is an undesirable method for counter-terrorism
Article by Joana Lopes | Illustration by Beatrice Bandiera The field of security and intelligence, especially the area of counter-terrorism, is no exception to the current technological advances: technology development, surveillance included, is an asset for both the perpetrators and counter-terrorism authorities. The use of the internet and artificial...