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 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 →
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
In this opinion column for Al Jazeera English, I explore a new ideological and strategic current which is championing lone-wolf attacks by Muslim individuals living in the west, without prior contact with al-Qaeda networks or consultation with any of its radical jurists. I argue that, in the era of ‘individual terrorism’, it will be Anwar al-Awlaki’s face which appears in… Read more →