When the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on June 9 authorizing a fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran for its controversial nuclear program, the risk of conflict in the Persian Gulf also escalated considerably. One of the potential points of... MORE

Jihadi web forums released a new audio message on July 19 from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda. [1] The message, entitled “Al-Quds Will Never be Judaized,” is only the second from al-Zawahiri since last December and the first since last May.  Al-Zawahiri started... MORE

Salafism, the Islamic reformist current that first appeared in the Middle East in the 19th century, is a more diverse movement than many observers initially assume. Like other Islamic movements, it now encompasses a wide variety of distinct sub-sets, each with its own scholars and... MORE

On June 29, a court in Dubai found two ethnic Uyghurs guilty of plotting to attack a massive shopping mall made up of 400 shops selling Chinese-made goods (The National [Abu Dhabi], June 30). This attempted attack was not only the first terrorist plot to... MORE

A series of clashes in southern Lebanon between peacekeeping troops of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and local residents have raised concerns that hostilities may escalate along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Tensions have been running high in the Levant since Israel accused Syria... MORE

A small governorate of roughly 150,000 people, Ma’rib was once the heart of the great Sabaean civilization of pre-Islamic times, a land made prosperous by the construction of great irrigation works. Its wealth figured in the legends surrounding reputed rulers like Queen Sheba. When the... MORE

A recent spurt in sectarian attacks in Pakistan has been blamed on a lethal but lesser known group affiliated with Taliban and al-Qaeda elements: the Ghazi Abdul Rashid Shaheed Brigade, also known as the Ghazi Brigade or Ghazi Force (Daily Times [Lahore], July 2). What... MORE

The local chapter of Pakistan’s Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Islamist political party held a rally on April 19 in the historic Kissa Khwani Bazaar of Peshawar to protest the extremely low gas pressure and rolling blackouts that affect Peshawar residents up to 10 hours per day (for... MORE

Several Jordanian newspapers and websites published details in early June about 24-year-old Jordanian Anas Khalil Khadir, stating that he was killed in Chechnya after joining the jihad there. Khadir’s family members, who live in Zarqa (a city located east of Jordan’s capital city of Amman),... MORE

Since the Turkish Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi - AKP) determined to address the Kurdish question through what is called the “democratic initiative,” there has been hope that political violence would finally come to an end after 25 years. Despite its shortcomings,... MORE