If the war on terror is to be won, we must first understand the perspective of our opponent. One of the principal inspirations for the type of Islamist ideology pursued by Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian chief lieutenant, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, is the work... MORE

Beginning with this issue, the Terrorism Monitor on a regular basis will analyze the Arab media's portrayal of the ideological sources of terrorism. This will include the most recent broadcasts of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabi, and other Arab television networks and will focus on the issues of... MORE

August's capture of Riduan Isamuddin in Thailand has been hailed as a major advance in the war on terror in Southeast Asia. Otherwise known as "Hambali," this well-publicized figure in the extremist transnational Islamic network has been variously implicated in the 9/11 strikes in New... MORE

Much is being said and written about today's Islam and its role in international relations. "Islamic extremism" is understood as political extremism that uses Islam as an ideological basis. "Fundamentalism," "Wahhabism," "political Islam," and "militant Islam" are often viewed as synonyms. Those who try to... MORE

As with all of its foreign policy issues, Iran is hedging its bets in Afghanistan. Driving Tehran's policy is its obsession with the United States and anxieties about how Washington's actions will impinge on Iran's national interests. This is all the more crucial for Iran... MORE

An interview with Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc., conducted by The Terrorism Monitor's managing editor, Julie Sirrs, on September 6, 2003. TM: What are the main reasons the U.S. has so far not been successful in apprehending Osama bin Laden? Bergen: There are... MORE

In October of 1974, Panteleimon Ponomarenko , the former head of the Soviet Union's Central Staff for Guerrilla Movements during the Second World War, gave a lecture at a secret school in the settlement of Novoe Nagornoe in the Pushkin district, forty miles outside of... MORE

August's bombing of the U.S.-owned Marriott Hotel in Jakarta has once again thrust Indonesia into the spotlight as an emergent territorial front for anti-Western transnational Islamic extremism. The attack, which killed dozens and injured over 100, exhibited strong similarities to last year's atrocity in Bali--the... MORE

The presence of al Qaeda elements in Iran has made headlines since the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The issue of deporting or extraditing them to the United States or to their countries of citizenship has engaged several governments through diplomatic channels as well... MORE

Traveling on the luxury, air-conditioned Express Bus from Islamabad to Peshawar is a defining experience that suddenly confronts Pakistan's historical secularism with a new-found Islamic fundamentalism. When the bus reaches the border between the province of the Punjab and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP,... MORE