I explore the latest (tenth) edition of Al-Qaeda’s English-langauge magazine, Inspire, for Al-Majalla. Despite being sent on the run by the new government in Yemen, and having lost Inspire’s key architects to drone strikes, its producers remain committed to this labor- and resource-intensive publication. http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/03/article55239777
In my latest opinion column for Al Jazeera, I argue that, alongside a clash between the narratives and policies of the US and Russia with regard to the Syria crisis, there has been a discernible gulf between each power’s discourse and their actions. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/20133415272744259.html
In this opinion piece for Al-Jazeera English, I consider how al-Qaeda and its allies have come to control half of Mali, posing what western leaders seen as an intolerable threat to Europe’s southern flank, and consider the prospects for foreign intervention. I also argue that an increasingly disarrayed al-Qaeda is taking advantage of the Arab Spring and sowing chaos –… Read more →
In this policy brief for Institut français des relations internationales, I argue that, while al-Qaeda has been on the backfoot in recent years, there are four areas of promise for the organisation: the opportunity to capitalise on any chaos which ensues from the Arab Awakening; the recent development of a common consciousness among previously unconnected al-Qaeda ‘affiliates’, particularly in Africa;… Read more →
In an opinion column for Al Jazeera, I argue that Lakhdar Brahimi’s commitment to painstaking negotiations, coupled with Mohammed Mursi’s belief that the crisis in Syria is the responsibility of regional powers, combine to offer the only fragile hope, at this juncture, for ending the bloodshed in Syria and preventing its multiplication throughout the region. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012927939708625.html
Together with George Joffe, I argue on Al Jazeera English that local, regional and international contradictions combine to create an atmosphere of confusion and deep mistrust. Throughout the region, the perception of a zero-sum struggle is gaining momentum. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/06/2012626105942801314.html
In an opinion column for Al Jazeera, and based on dozens of interviews conducted in Beirut and in Northern Lebanon, ranging from Hizballah to Walid Jumblatt to Syrian refugees, I argue that Lebanese concern about the mounting civilian death toll in Syria ia necessarily tempered by competing exigencies, by local politics and, in some cases, by instincts for survival. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/2012416132131379581.htmle
Together with Ranj Alaaldin, I argue in the Daily Telegraph (London) that, while Libya’s potential is enormous, elections under the current circumstances will not deal with the militarisation of competing power centres: instead, they will reflect and embed an unstable situation. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9163708/Libyas-elections-must-be-postponed.html
Together with George Joffe, I argue on Al Jazeera English that, in the worsening conflict in Syria, great power politics are mapping dangerously onto regional power struggles, which are in turn underpinned by sectarian ones. What, then, does this unstable dynamic mean for those states surrounding Syria that are directly affected by its domestic repression? http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/201222613517197680.html
In the British Academy Review, and based on my remarks at the British Academy Symposium on ‘9/11: Ten Years On’, I explore Osama bin Laden’s democratization of Islamic authority and the implications of this for al-Qaeda’s future. http://www.britac.ac.uk/review/19/index.cfm