The Arab Spring and Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence
Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith, distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor to appear before you to discuss the state of al-Qaeda, its affiliates, and associated groups. My test...
Mohamed Morsi
The Arab Spring and Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence
Download the full testimony (PDF). Chairman McKeon...
Congressional Testimonies
Can Egypt Handle Ansar Bayt al Maqdis?
Shortly after 6:30am in Egypt on Friday, a massive car bomb detonated outside the Cairo Security Directorate. The attack killed at least four people and wounded more than 70, Egypt’s Health...
Op-eds
Blowback in Cairo
On Sept. 5, a car bomb ripped through the Cairo neighborhood of Nasr City, narrowly missing its target: Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a Sinai-based jihadist g...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda’s Big Year
Any way you measure it, 2013 was a good year for al Qaeda. It wasn’t supposed to be. Shortly after the United States killed the group’s charismatic leader, Osama bin Laden, a couple o...
Op-eds
Egypt’s Brotherhood Gets the Blame for Police Compound Bombing
Egypt’s prime minister declared the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist" organization after multiple explosions at the security headquarters in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura killed at least 1...
Op-eds
Egypt’s Sinai Goes Quiet… For Now
By David Barnett On November 20, a car bomb attack by the Salafi ji...
Policy Briefs
The Bizarro Doctrine
American foreign policy in the Middle East has now entered Bizarro World–a place made humorously famous by comedian Jerry Seinf...
Op-eds
Hamas Leader Meets Turkey’s Prime Minster in Ankara
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet today with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal in Ankara, a...
Policy Briefs
The Ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
On September 23, a Cairo court issued a verdict instituting a ban on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates in Egypt. The decision comes in the wake of recent government raid...
Policy Briefs
Turkey’s Strategy in Syria
“The Assad regime has not lived up to any of its pledges, it has won time for new massacres and continues to do so,” said Turkish Prime Minister...
Policy Briefs
Saudi Strategy in Syria
Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, issued a direct order earlier this month: “...
Policy Briefs
Egypt’s New Political Transition
Egypt’s “Committee of the Fifty,” which serves as a constituent assembly, held its first deliberations last week to draft a new constitution. The meeting was a major milestone,...
Policy Briefs
The Muddle East
If Congress refuses to support American military action against the Assad regime in Syria, and President Barack Obama declines to strike or strikes meekly, will American power—that marriage...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Mixed Messages on Syria
ISTANBUL—In Istanbul’s religiously conservative Fatih neighborhood, the four-fingered yellow Rabia signs supporting Egypt’s pro-Morsi protest movement are ubiquitous, as residen...
Op-eds
How Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the Tortoise and the Hare of the Middle East
The toppling of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt was a major setback for Qatar. The uber-wealthy Gulf emirate had pumped billions of dollars into Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government, only to watch...
Op-eds
Erdogan Denounces US for Criticizing Claim that Israel was Behind Morsi’s Ousting
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan chastised Washington for having denounced his claim, made last Tuesday, that ...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Pariah Sultan?
Yesterday, Katherine Connell covered in this spac...
Op-eds
Way Down in Egypt’s Land
President Obama wants to keep aid to Egypt’s new military rulers flowing. So does Republican former ambassador John Bolton. Democratic (and Muslim) congressman Keith Ellison wants to cut ai...
Op-eds
Hamas, Egypt and the “Rule of Holes”
The rule of holes: when in one, stop digging. This proverb is apparently lost on the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The faction, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been under...