
Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
What Lies Ahead For Tajikistan?
Tajikistan differs from the other countries of Central Asia for several reasons. Tajiks are the only relatively large group of Persian-speaking people in Central Asia. The titular nationalities of the remaining republics belong to the Turkic language group. The threat of forceful assimilation by Turks... MORE
Uzbekistan and the War on Terror: A View from the Field
The republic of Uzbekistan, with a Muslim population of 23 million, is the key state in the Central Asian political landscape. Having survived a significant confrontation with terrorism in the form of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and despite the presence of the "non-violent"... MORE
The Jihadist Mutation
The coordinated train bombings in Madrid that killed 200 and injured roughly 1,600 have already had a greater impact on the world than any terrorist attack since 9/11, altering Europe's political structure, shaking global financial markets and unsettling the U.S. coalition in Iraq. While the... MORE
Loose Nukes and Al-Qaeda
In an article in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs, Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, pointed out that nearly each month someone is "apprehended trying to smuggle or steal nuclear materials... MORE
Narco-Terrorism in Afghanistan
The illicit drug economy in Afghanistan is said to be fuelling terrorism. During a conference held in Kabul on February 8-9, Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), warned of "mounting evidence of drug money being... MORE
Baathist Origins of the Zarqawi Letter
Coalition forces recently captured a seventeen-page letter detailing plans to foment civil war in Iraq before the June 30 deadline for the hand-over of power. Some analysts have suggested the letter is proof of al-Qaeda's involvement in terrorist attacks in Iraq today, attributing authorship of... MORE
The ‘Virtual Hand’ of Jihad
The presidential commission on WMDs and the 9/11 commission have condemned the status quo mentality of the intelligence community, which they see as being preoccupied with today's "current operations" and tactical requirements, and inattentive to tomorrow's far-ranging problems and strategic solutions. Both commissions call for... MORE
The Islamist Movement in Morocco
Prior to the Casablanca attacks of May 2003, Morocco appeared to be relatively immune to the type of home grown Islamic militancy experienced by other North African countries. The Moroccan monarchy, which claims direct descent from the prophet, appeared to have successfully contained its political... MORE

A New Phase for Jihad in Egypt?
The Egyptian government fought a low-level war with Islamist radicals in the 1990s and claimed victory through the use of hard-nosed tactics and negotiations with the larger, known militant groups. Meanwhile, moderate Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Centrists attempted to enter politics by legitimate... MORE
Editor’s Note on Yemeni Special Issue
Dear Reader: Jamestown presents this special issue on Yemen as a part of our ongoing endeavor to focus on pivotal states involved in the War on Terror. An important US ally since 9/11, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih has performed a difficult balancing act in... MORE