By Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst (CNN) — Osama bin Laden must be sitting in his comfortably appointed hideaway somewhere in northwest Pakistan watching the events in the Middle East unfold with a mixture of glee and despair. Glee, because overthrowing the dictatorships and monarchies of the Middle East Continue Reading
Can Al Qaeda Survive the Revolts in the Middle East?
Great commentary by Bruce Riedel. “As the Arab world undergoes the most profound changes it has seen in over a half century, and the first-ever democratic revolutions in its history, al Qaeda has been caught off guard like everyone else. Now it is trying to regain its footing by looking Continue Reading
DNI 2011 Threat Assessment
FYI, here’s the link to the 2011 Threat Assessment by the Director of National Intelligence.
The U.K. Terror Plot: The Latest Sign of Al Qaeda’s Global Jihad
Nice brief commentary by Bruce Riedel “The arrest of a dozen men in four cities in England and Wales Monday for allegedly planning al Qaeda-inspired terror attacks is fueling anew the deep concern among European and U.S. intelligence services that al Qaeda is determined to strike this winter. Sweden has Continue Reading
Debates and Divisions within Al-Qaida
Self Inflicted Wounds Here is an excellent example of the kind of research that definitely improves our understanding of al Qaida. “ Self Inflicted Wounds: Debates and Divisions within al-Qaida and its Periphery†was released earlier this week and is edited by Assaf Moghadam and Brian Fishman, two of my Continue Reading
Downing Foundation
Please consider supporting the General Wayne Downing Foundation. http://generaldowning.org/index.htmlGe
Ryan Crocker, “Lessons from a Long War”
Click below to hear a speech by Ryan C. Crocker, former Ambassador to Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon. He is currently Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, and he spoke to members and guests of the World Affairs Council of Continue Reading
National Framework for Strategic Communication
Click Here to download the National Framework for Strategic Communication, President Barack Obama’s Report to Congress, March 16, 2010. This 14-page report, described in the President’s transmittal letter as the “Administration’s comprehensive interagency strategy for public diplomacy and strategic communication,” was submitted in response to a requirement in Section 1055 Continue Reading
Fouad Ajami on Radical Islamists
Islam’s Nowhere Men By FOUAD AJAMI Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2010 ‘A Muslim has no nationality except his belief,” the intellectual godfather of the Islamists, Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, wrote decades ago. Qutb’s “children” are everywhere now; they carry the nationalities of foreign lands and plot against them. The Pakistani Continue Reading
Internet Terror Recruitment and Tradecraft
Internet Terror Recruitment and Tradecraft: How Can We Address an Evolving Tool While Protecting Free Speech? Hearing, House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment Wednesday, May 26, 2010 Click here to read the comments and Congressional testimony provided by Bruce Hoffman, Continue Reading