Ansar al-Islam is often touted as the Kurdish constituency of al-Qaeda. It has been grabbing the headlines from its inception in September 2001. Reports have traced its influence from Afghanistan to Italy. How much of the exploits attributed to Ansar al-Islam is fact or fiction... MORE

Translator’s note: In light of the recent attacks in the Saudi city of Khobar, the Jamestown Foundation presents the following letter entitled “To All Desiring Jihad in the Lands of the Arab Peninsula.” Attributed to Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, the text appeared in issue 10 of... MORE

Few observers of the post-Saddam Iraqi scene expected an insurgency to break out in Iraq so shortly after conventional combat operations were officially declared to be over. When the insurgency erupted in May 2003, there was little concern on the part of senior U.S. strategic... MORE

Jamestown is proud to present this special issue focusing on Iraq. One of the primary questions addressed here is who and what comprises the insurgency in Iraq. These articles present a complex picture of the conflict; a number of disparate groups with separate aims and... MORE

Since the start of war in Iraq, coalition forces have been strongly criticized for using "heavy-handed" military tactics against non-professional, civic "insurgents." However, such criticism over-simplifies the conflict now raging in that country, concealing the true nature of those forces opposing the U.S.-led occupation. While... MORE

As the Kremlin sides with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov over the recent uprising in the Central Asian state, official Russian media outlets have linked up to back this point of view. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Karimov discussed the situation by telephone on May 14... MORE

The recently replaced flag of Iraq has three stars in its middle band, representing a stillborn alliance between the great Arab nations of Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. Though the wave of post-colonial Arab nationalism that sparked the would-be alliance is today no more than an... MORE

Attacks on Iraqi oil pipelines throughout this week bring into sharp focus the difficulties faced by coalition forces who had planned to use oil revenues to help fund the war effort. Recent attacks on the oil fields and pipelines in and near Basra shut off... MORE

Saudi Arabia appears to have scored something of a propaganda coup in its war against terrorism with the surrender of Othman al-Amri, an Islamist militant hunted by security forces for more than a year and reported to be number 21 among 26 most-wanted men named... MORE

By the end of March 2004 – and to everyone's surprise – significant elements of the Shi'ite community rose in open rebellion against the coalition when the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr unleashed his so-called Mahdi's Army against the coalition. Suddenly, the coalition was faced with... MORE