Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Al Qaeda

A “So-Mali” Solution?

A “So-Mali” Solution?

    With the French military intervention in Mali shifting to a more sustained action, the reality of the long, hard slog in the Mali region has triggered inevitable questions by diplomats, policy planners and many others as to what defines success – and what comes next?  Most mouthed answer: “Somalia.”  That’s correct.  The place […]

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What Pakistan Seeks in Afghanistan

What Pakistan Seeks in Afghanistan

By Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute Scholar-In-Residence Assertions and opinions in this publication are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy. Washington and Kabul have welcomed increased Pakistani cooperation in finding a political […]

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The Greatest U.S. National Security Threat May Come From Africa in the Future

The Greatest U.S. National Security Threat May Come From Africa in the Future

With the election of President Barack Obama to a second term as President of the United States, the operational realities of an exit strategy for U.S. forces to leave Afghanistan by 2014 began to be put into place. Obama campaigned strongly on the notion of turning the security of Afghanistan over to the national forces […]

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The United Nations Needs to Walk a Fine Line with Ugandan Accusations

The United Nations Needs to Walk a Fine Line with Ugandan Accusations

A U.N. report leaked last month to Reuters indicated that both Uganda and Rwanda were supporting M23 rebels in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The confidential report stated that while Rwanda’s Defense Minister, James Kabarebe, was actually commanding the rebel group, Uganda was also guilty of supplying arms and soldiers, […]

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Al Qaeda in Iraq Threatens America

Al Qaeda in Iraq Threatens America

“You will soon witness how attacks will resound in the heart of your land, because our war with you has now started…“ – Abu Bakr Baghdadi Presaging the latest wave of violence in Iraq, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) released a recorded message, heralding the start of Ramadan. The speaker, believed to be Abu Bakr […]

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America’s Troubling Intervention Instinct

America’s Troubling Intervention Instinct

Way back in February I expanded on a report in the Christian Science Monitor that suggested al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had set up shop against the Assad regime, in Syria. Writing both here and for The American Spectator, I joined the chorus of analysts, academics and pundits who urged caution against arming Syrian rebels – precisely because it’s unthinkable to equip battle-hardened […]

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U.S. Calls Out Boko Haram

U.S. Calls Out Boko Haram

Why is it that the media in the West seem to fixate on some stories while completely ignoring others? The strategic analysis firm Stratfor recently sent their subscribers a report by Robert Kaplan that contained the following quote that provides an insightful answer: The media love people stories; they love to humanize everything about a […]

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Bad moon rising again, this time over Syria

Bad moon rising again, this time over Syria

There were many dangers faced by reporters during the four-year Bosnia war. Gunfire. Freezing. Food poisoning. Checkpoints manned by drugged out crazies. Yet one fear stood out, and it was usually away from the fighting. That was going to Zenica, a city in the central part of the area controlled by the Bosnian government. The […]

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Boko Haram Attacks Spark Regional Concerns

Boko Haram Attacks Spark Regional Concerns

Whether it is lack of political will or capacity, the Nigerian government has failed to address the threat that the Islamist insurgency Boko Haram poses to its country’s security. The past week has been a particularly bloody one for Nigeria. Simultaneous attacks against This Day newspaper offices in Abuja and Kaduna killed nearly a dozen […]

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Al-Qaeda Threat Grows in Yemen

Al-Qaeda Threat Grows in Yemen

Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that seeks to establish the return of the Islamic Caliphate over the Muslim world is believed to have grown way beyond “containment security parameters,” posing a very real threat to Yemen’s national hegemony within in its own territories. As Yemenis rose against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the wake of Egyptian […]

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The Islamic State in Iraq and Soft Partition

The Islamic State in Iraq and Soft Partition

Two days ago, I wrote a brief post about an apparent exodus of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) operatives to neighboring Syria – resulting in an abrupt drop in violence in the capital city of Mosul, and a surprising lull across Nineveh province in the northwest part of the country. Today, at least 60 people […]

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The Massacre in Words and Pictures – Syria

The Massacre in Words and Pictures – Syria

21 February marked the deaths of a prominent foreign journalist and a foreign photographer covering the unrest in Homs, Syria: Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik. Again, their deaths cast light upon the apparent crimes against humanity that are raging unabated in Syria. Colvin’s and Ochlik’s deaths in Baba Amr, […]

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Al Qaeda in Iraq… in Syria?

Al Qaeda in Iraq… in Syria?

Interesting news from Iraq… the Christian Science Monitor is reporting that violence has dropped precipitously as al-Qaeda affiliates quit the field to battle President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The effects of egress have been most pronounced in Nineveh Province – the Iraqi governate borders Syria and once served as served as home to as many as […]

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2011 Year In Review – U.S. Role in the World

2011 Year In Review – U.S. Role in the World

The Foreign Policy Association has asked the blog team to write year-end summaries and even provided a nice little template for us to follow. So, without further ado: Summary of the Past Year What an extraordinary year 2011 has turned out to be. The U.S. appears to have successfully navigated a year of extreme turbulence […]

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The many names of the game

The many names of the game

Osama bin Laden: killed and al Qaeda: on the run. That’s the balance sheet — more or less — that the U.S. has to share with the world. Meanwhile, its biggest ally in the War on Terror — Pakistan — has nothing to present except that its own people have been terrorized by militants, with […]

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