Past Events
Olivier Roy, research director in the humanities and social sciences sector of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique in Paris, discussed Islamic terrorism, past and present, in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Ongoing civil rights abuses by post-Soviet governments in Central Asia have created an environment in which extremist views have grown and in many places flourished. Although terrorism has been common in parts of the Middle East for years, it has recently spread to areas like Saudi Arabia that have traditionally not seen terrorist activity within its borders. Roy examined terrorist activity in these two regions, focusing particularly on possible links between the two as well as the differences in strategies and goals.
