Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Oil and Jihad in Central Africa: The Rise and Fall of Uganda’s ADF
In the midst of all the horrors generated in Central Africa by the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the collapse of Zaire in 1997, a little known group of Islamist radicals has done its own part to contribute to the suffering. Based since 1996 in... MORE
Morocco’s Resistance to Regional Jihad
As 2007 draws to a close, the one year anniversary nears of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat’s (GSPC) official rebranding of itself as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) following its merger with Osama bin Laden’s group. With the change in name came... MORE
Imprisoned Leader of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad Challenges al-Qaeda
The Salafi-Jihadi ideology, the doctrine and constitution of al-Qaeda’s terrorists, is being re-evaluated by prominent Salafi-Jihadi ideologues. The same ideologues that previously sanctioned terrorist operations are now having second thoughts about the ideology behind many heinous terrorist acts. Last month Sayed Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, a... MORE
The Turkish Generals’ Talk: The Strategic Insights of Turkey’s Struggle with the PKK
In November, Turkish journalist Fikret Bila published a book entitled Komutanlar Cephesi (“The Commanders’ Front”) based on interviews with eight retired Turkish military commanders (Detay Yayıncılık, 2007). Prior to its publication, extracts from the book were serialized in Turkish in Milliyet (see Eurasia Daily Monitor,... MORE
If Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Strike Back: The Case of Iraq
The recent move by the U.S. government to designate Iran’s most powerful military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a terrorist organization reflects a tougher U.S. stance towards Tehran in response to its controversial nuclear program and military reach in the Middle East.... MORE
Is the NWFP Slipping out of Pakistan’s Control?
A discredited military regime in the center, the problematic rule of a religious political alliance (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA), ill-planned military operations in the adjacent Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) belt and the growing unpopularity of the “war on terror” have all tarnished the socio-political... MORE
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood: Political Islam Without al-Qaeda
The September 11, 2001 attacks inspired an unprecedented upsurge of interest in Middle East and Islamic studies within academic, policymaking and security circles in the United States. Now, more than ever, Americans are seeking to understand the circumstances that culminated in the worst terrorist attacks... MORE
Strategic Implications for Northern Iraq’s Kurdish Oil Industry
Article 3, paragraph 3 of the Oil and Gas Law of the Kurdistan Region seems straightforward enough: “The Regional Government shall, together with the Federal Government, jointly manage Petroleum Operations … according to the provisions of the Federal Constitution” [1]. The law seems clear until... MORE
PJAK Faces Turkish-Iranian Storm
The last year has seen steadily increasing violence between Turkey and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). On October 21, 2007 a group of PKK fighters killed 12 Turkish soldiers and captured eight others in an attack in southeastern Turkey. Since then Turkey has called on... MORE
UN/African Union Peacekeepers in Darfur Unlikely to Succeed
Despite optimistic predictions, the expected deployment of the “hybrid” United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID) is in peril. It now seems there will be no peace to keep and no mandate capable of imposing it. Sudan is insisting that African troops comprise most... MORE