In The News

Lessons of Failed States: Rebuilding Sierra Leone and Liberia

Humphrey Hawksley August 20, 2009
As elections are held in Afghanistan, the memory of 9/11 seems to have all but faded. But, as journalist Humphrey Hawksley writes, the lesson of 9/11, that failed states are a breeding ground for malignant forces with a global reach, must not be forgotten. World leaders need to balance placating an electorate uneasy about continuing involvement with finding a long term solution to securing a...

Nigeria’s ‘Taliban’ Enigma

Joe Boyle July 29, 2009
A recent spike in violence in northern Nigeria has drawn attention to a mysterious group of radicals known variously as “Taliban,” “Maiduguri,” and “Boko Haram.” All the terms have been attributed to the group by local people; it has no name for itself and has no link to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The group aims to overthrow the Nigerian state, impose strict Islamic law and abolish what it calls...

The Last Straw

July 17, 2009
Pakistan’s biggest problem may not be poverty or insurgency, but potential conflict due to climate change. Current estimates suggest that in as little as 25 years, climate change could wreak havoc on the rivers in Kashmir, the source of 90 percent of Pakistan’s supply of irrigated water, creating significant food security hurdles. Pakistan’s options to address the possible crisis are to let its...

Terrorists Recruit For Cyberwar, Official Says

June 26, 2009
Islamic extremist groups are expanding their use of the internet as a tool to further their war against the West. Some jihadi websites offer instructions on hacking. While US defense officals claim jihadists are attempting to recruit computer experts to raise funds through online fraud schemes and perpetrate cyberattacks. US and Italian authorities recently disrupted an Italy-based international...

Obama’s Middle East Challenge – Part I

Fawaz A. Gerges June 16, 2009
With President Obama’s ground-breaking speech in Cairo and the turbulent Iranian election, the Middle East is witnessing a quickening tempo of history. In the first of this two-part series on Obama’s Middle East challenge, Middle Eastern Studies professor Fawaz A. Gerges analyzes Obama’s speech, which he thinks could prove to be a pivotal moment in Middle East politics. At the least, it shows a...

Tunnels, Guns and Kimchi: North Korea’s Quest for Dollars – Part I

Bertil Lintner June 9, 2009
Recent suggestions by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that North Korea could be re-listed as a state sponsoring terrorism raises the prospect of further tightening the economic noose around the regime. North Korea has got nuclear weapons but needs funds to keep the regime afloat. Yet, normal trading partners are loathe to transact with the pariah state subject to international sanctions. Hence...

War by Other Means: Econo-Jihad

Gabriel Weimann June 4, 2009
With President Barack Obama poised to deliver his long-awaited message to the Islamic world, Osama Bin Laden is back in the news. What his anti-US message does not say is that the global jihadi movement has been adjusting its tactics. Online chatter and public statements by jihadists, Al Qaeda and indeed Bin Laden’s own earlier words suggest there is a new twist to jihad: the economy. Author...