The experiment in governance by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the allied Ansar al-Shari’a movement that attempted to establish seven Islamic Emirates in southern Yemen ended in July after less than a year. The end came with a massive June offensive against the... MORE

Let’s begin with the assumption that Israel can overcome the logistical and political hurdles involved in mounting an attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities, either unilaterally or in cooperation with the United States. Unlike earlier strikes on Syrian and Iraqi nuclear facilities, Iran will certainly... MORE

The recent escalation of jihadi activity in the Sinai Peninsula has added a new dimension to the geostrategic uncertainties of the post-Mubarak era. Like the fallen regime, the Sinai served as a buffer in the cold peace between the Egyptian and Israeli populations. With the... MORE

Burma has undergone significant changes in recent years, as increasing pressure from the United States and other Western powers to democratize and respect human rights has mounted. The work of political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi’s, which won her a Nobel Peace prize and inspired... MORE

Kazakhstan has experienced a rise in militant activity carried out by Salafist groups on its territory and periphery since late 2011. The Salafists’ rejection of secularism and other types of Islam and their call for a return to the ways of the Salaf, or pious... MORE

Great uncertainty continues to shroud the ideological composition of the insurgency that is raging across Syria. The motivations of the rank-and-file of the Free Syrian Army (FSA - the armed wing of the Syrian National Council [SNC] opposition movement) and the constellation of factions that... MORE

Two recent events seem to have shaken the Haqqani Network to its core—the death of Badruddin Haqqani and the group’s designation as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) by the United States. According to a Pakistani journalist based in the Tribal Areas, the death of Badruddin... MORE

Against the backdrop of ongoing simmering dissent in the Arab world, growing unrest in Saudi Arabia, in contrast, has gone virtually unnoticed.  In a climate of increasing political openness, popular Arab demands for the fall of longtime dictatorships have served as vehicles for airing deeply... MORE

After twenty years of anarchy, Somalia’s Constituent Assembly approved a new draft constitution on August 1, paving the way for the replacement of the transitional government by an elected president with a new cabinet and parliament on August 20, a year after the withdrawal of... MORE

In late July, Sheikh al-Mujahid Hussam Abd al-Raouf a prominent al-Qaeda ideologue, member of its strategy committee and editor of Vanguards of Khurasan, the magazine of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, presented a lengthy examination of the steps Egyptian president Muhammad al-Mursi should take in transforming Egypt into... MORE