“Islam’s borders are bloody,” wrote the late political scientist Samuel Huntington in 1996, “and so are its innards.” Nearly 20 years later, Huntington looks more right than ever before. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, at least 70% of all the fatalities in armed conflicts around the world last year were in wars involving Muslims. In 2013, there were nearly 12,000 terrorist attacks world-wide. The lion’s share were in Muslim-majority countries, and many of the others were carried out by Muslims. By far the most numerous victims of Muslim violence—including executions and lynchings not captured in these statistics—are Muslims themselves.

In Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes that a religious reformation is the only way to end the terrorism, sectarian warfare, and repression of women and minorities that each year claim thousands of lives throughout the Muslim world. She argues that the violent acts of Islamic extremists cannot be divorced from the religious doctrine that inspires them. Instead, she says, we must confront the fact that they are driven by a political ideology embedded in Islam itself.

"Last week’s horrific lynching of an Afghan woman falsely accused of burning the Koran perfectly illustrates the desperate need for a Muslim Reformation," writes Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

"Violence in the name of religion is endemic in the Muslim world today, from Afghanistan to Tunisia, from Yemen to Syria and Iraq. Yet there is also a backlash brewing against it, and that is what gives me hope."

"I’ve seen today the images of the sea of faces in European capitals holding placards saying “I am Charlie Hebdo.” That is beautiful and it’s the perfect thing to do. Tomorrow they should hold placards of the cartoons Charlie Hebdo had printed. Asserting our right to free speech is the only to ensure that 12 people did not die in vain." Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project, makes the case for a greater stand against Islamic fundamentalism and defends the right to free speech in her reflections on the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

According to Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the West must "stand up for freedom - and acknowledge the link between Islamists' political ideology and their religious beliefs." In this article for the Wall Street Journal, Ayaan Hirsi Ali firmly maintains that the West must realize that recent reprisals are driven by political ideology and that appeasement is not the right way to respond to radical Islam.

"No symbol represents the soul of Islam more than the shahada. But today there is a contest within Islam for the ownership of that symbol. Who owns the shahada? Is it those Muslims who want to emphasize Muhammad’s years in Mecca or those who are inspired by his conquests after Medina?" Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project, reflects on the Martin Place siege and examines the political and religious significance of the shahada.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes, "As a child growing up in a Muslim family, I constantly heard my mother, other relatives and neighbors wish for the death of Jews, who were considered our darkest enemy. Our religious tutors and the preachers in our mosques set aside extra time to pray for the destruction of Jews."

In light of the Middle Eastern unrest over Western depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes in Newsweek about her experiences fighting against Islamic outrage—and how we can solve the problem for good.