Michael W. S. Ryan

Dr. Michael W. S. Ryan is an independent consultant and researcher on Middle Eastern security issues and a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. He is the author of Decoding Al-Qaeda’s Strategy: The Deep Battle Against America (Columbia University Press, 2013).

Ryan has served as the Vice President of the Middle East Institute as well as Vice President at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (2007-2008), and as a political-military and foreign assistance specialist for the Departments of Defense and State with an emphasis on Middle East and North Africa (1979-1997). He is a former Fulbright Fellow at the American Research Center in Egypt. Ryan received his BA from St. John’s College and a PhD from Harvard University.

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Hot Issue – Al-Qaeda’s Long Game in the Sinai

11.14.2019 Michael W. S. Ryan

Executive Summary Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s long-game strategy has created international networks with the ultimate intention of creating a united Islamic Emirate to take the...

Publication Hot Issues Egypt

ISIS and al-Qaeda: Tactical Twins, Strategic Enemies

12.17.2015 Michael W. S. Ryan

How can “Daesh” and al-Qaeda be both tactical twins and strategic enemies? [1] Their tactics are very similar. Even their strategies have the same roots...

Publication Terrorism Monitor Iraq

Hot Issue: How DAESH’s Lone Wolf Guidance Increases the Group’s Threat to the United States

11.24.2015 Michael W. S. Ryan

Executive Summary On October 18, 2015, a DAESH promoter posted a 63-page English-language manual entitled Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen on Twitter....

Publication Hot Issues Iraq

Hot Issue: Dabiq: What Islamic State’s New Magazine Tells Us about Their Strategic Direction, Recruitment Patterns and Guerrilla Doctrine

08.01.2014 Michael W. S. Ryan

Executive Summary On the first day of Ramadan (June 28), the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared itself the new Islamic State and...

Publication Hot Issues Iraq