Chechen warlord Shamil Basaev is no stranger to violence. In the turbulent world of the northern Caucasus, Basaev has fought in the Abkhaz rebellion of 1992-93, and played a central role in the first Chechen war of 1994-96, the invasion of Dagestan in 1999, and... MORE

Without doubt, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) is one of the most powerful organizations operating in Central Asia. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) is banned in nearly all Central Asian republics, but despite repressive measures undertaken against the party by the governments of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan,... MORE

On January 14, 2004, the Arab television station Al-Jazeera broadcast a report about the death of Mamoun El Hodeiby, the “spiritual leader” of the influential Egyptian fundamentalist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan al-Muslimoon). The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is often regarded as the forerunner of many... MORE

Interview with Jason Burke, January 19, 2004 Jason Burke is the author of Al Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror. He is also the chief reporter of The Observer, London. TM: You have described al Qaeda as a group with several elements: The hard core,... MORE

The recent constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) in Kabul, which ratified the new constitution for Afghanistan and set the stage for presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, was successfully carried out without interference from the armed opposition. The event, held under strict security, was not... MORE

Today's Pakistan has a serious quandary. It is no longer faced with the choice between a secular, pluralistic state and an Islamic state. Rather, the decision is between two Islamic state models, one that is modern and democratic and one that is backward, intolerant, increasingly... MORE

I first heard the term "Wahhabi"--referring to the ultrafundamentalist Islamic sect that is the state dispensation in Saudi Arabia--in a Yugoslav context, in 1989. Specifically, Wahhabism was compared with Stalinist Communism, a parallel that seemed immediately appropriate. But little did I imagine that as a... MORE

In the case of East Asia, some countries -- like China -- have been skilled at adapting the war on terror to their own national security priorities. For others -- such as Indonesia and Japan -- the specter of transnational terrorism as represented by al... MORE

In October of 2003 Japan received its first overt threat from al Qaeda. A videotape was released on which Osama Bin Laden purportedly promised suicide attacks against the United States and those countries supporting the American occupation of Iraq. That list includes Australia, Great Britain,... MORE

The war on terror has continued apace in Southeast Asia, and the governments in the region and their Western counterparts deserve credit for the arrests of some 250 Jemaah Islamiya (JI) members through December 2003. Several of the members of JI's regional shura, its leadership... MORE