Not So Fast
On January 19, the Pentagon released its new National Defense Strategy. The second paragraph of the 14-page declassified summary painted a dire picture. “Today, we are emerging from a perio...
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis
Treasury sanctions al Qaeda, Islamic State ‘financiers and facilitators’
The US Treasury Department announced terror designations for six jihadists yesterday. Five of them a...
Op-eds
The Sinai Crash is Sisi’s Nightmare
It’s still too early to definitively state the cause of the Russian airliner crash...
Policy Briefs
Radicalization: Social Media and the Rise of Terrorism
Download full testimony here...
Congressional Testimonies
Extreme Makeover, Jihadist Edition: Al-Qaeda’s Rebranding Campaign
Since the Islamic State made its dramatic military advance from Syria into Iraq more than a year ago — capturing...
Op-eds
The Islamic State’s Varying Fortunes in North Africa
The jihadist group that calls itself the Islamic State has increasingly set its sights on expanding into North Africa. The eighth issue of the group’s English-language magazineDabiq...
Op-eds
Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment
Download full testimony here Cha...
Congressional Testimonies
“Terrorism in Africa: The Imminent Threat to the United States”
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Congressional Testimonies
Al Qaeda Is Beating the Islamic State
Co-authored by Bridget Moreng The Islamic State’s lightning offensive through Iraq and Syria last year has dominated the headlines, but the jihadist group that has won the...
Op-eds
What Netanyahu didn’t say
What is it about Israel in general and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular that leads to so much careless reporting and tendentious commentary? Start with The New York Times,...
Op-eds
The Islamic State’s African Long Con
In the long run, Boko Haram’s decision to pledge its allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) — and the IS’s subsequent ...
Op-eds
Is Libya the Next Stronghold of the Islamic State?
Co-authored by Nathaniel Barr Exactly four years after the protests that kicked off the Libyan revolution, the country has again...
Op-eds
ISIL’s International Expansion: What Does Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis’s Oath of Allegiance Mean?
The international expansion of the jihadist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has become a ...
Op-eds
The Truth About ISIS… They’re Better at Twitter Than War
The Islamic State’s real social media skill makes commentators too willing to believe its shaky territorial claims
Op-eds
Analysis: Al Qaeda and Other Jihadists Repeatedly Threatened French Magazine
The identities and backgrounds of the terrorists who assaulted Charlie Hebdo, a French magazine, are still unknown. The Long War Journal cautions agai...
Op-eds
Sinai Crisis Binds Egypt and Israel
Last week, Sinai-based extremists targeted the North Sinai security headquarters with a massive blast, causing damag...
Op-eds
Sinai’s Volatility Increasingly Unites Egypt and Israel
Militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula carried out a cross-border shooting attack on Wednesday, leaving an Israeli female...
Policy Briefs
Our Libya Intervention — Failure Disguised as Success
There was some rare good news coming out of Libya this month. Oil exports were set to resume from...
Op-eds
A Failure of Policy
Forty-one recently declassified State Department documents obtained by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, have reignited the controversy over the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack...
Op-eds
Successes and Failures of the U.S. and NATO Intervention in Libya
Download the full written testimony here (PDF). Ch...