Analysis

The Salafi-jihadist movement is winning

Many observers, including the president, look at these outcomes and deem the terrorist threat finished — but our enemies take a different...

The Islamic Republic Nears a Turning Point

Forty years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran is on the brink of change. Iran will transform – but not necessarily for the better.

The U.S. Cannot Ignore the Islamic State’s Largest African Affiliate

The U.S. is winding down its counterterrorism footprint in Africa and is turning a blind eye to the Islamic State’s largest African affil...

The Fight Against al Shabaab isn’t Over

Al Shabaab actively competes with the central government for local legitimacy by providing security and shari’a governance, threatening U...

From Dey to Today: Iranian Anti-Regime Protest Slogans

2018 was a turbulent year for Iran. 2019 could be worse.

Isolationists won in Syria, but internationalists can prevail

Liberal and conservative internationalists must now decide: shall we put aside our policy differences in defense of the principle that th...

Russian Preparations for Military Operations in Ukraine Continue

Russia continues to build up and prepare its military forces for possible offensive operations against Ukraine from the Crimean Peninsula...

The Islamic State is not defeated in Syria. Or anywhere else. Look at Africa.

The Islamic State is not defeated in Syria, as the Trump administration asserted last week. The Islamic State is also alive and well in A...

The Salafi-Jihadi Base in the Sahel: December 2018

Affiliations, including shared purposes, histories, and personal relationships, create the Salafi-jihadi base in the Sahel. These affilia...

More Chants, More Protests: The Dey Iranian Anti-Regime Protests

Libya’s Migrant Crisis Isn’t Just a European Problem

Since the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, successive U.S. administrations have watched Libya’s continuing collapse, believing that the...

Al Shabaab Area of Operations: October 2018

The U.S. military intensified direct action operations against al Shabaab, which has disrupted the group’s offensive campaigns but has no...

ISIS Affiliate Expands in the Sahel

The expansion of an Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) affiliate in the Sahel demonstrates that current U.S. and European counterte...

The U.S. Can Defuse Iraq’s Crisis

The U.S. and Gulf partners can help prevent a civil war among the Shi'a by providing water, energy, and medical assistance.

Testimony: Ethiopia’s Strategic Importance: US National Security Interests at Risk in the Horn of Africa

The potential for Ethiopia to destabilize persists. It faces a rapid political transition and ethnic conflict across multiple regions, bo...

Understanding ISIS and al Qaeda

This briefer provides the fundamentals on Salafi-jihadi groups both organizationally and as fighting groups.

Iran’s hardliners are going after the entire Rouhani Administration

Hardliner success in crushing President Rouhani may shave years off the regime’s lifespan

Can We Pursue a Victory Strategy Against Iran?

Lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union are useful not only to show us how to proceed, but also how not to

Warning Update: Threats to Mali’s Elections Reveal Weakness of U.S. Security Policy in West Africa

The U.S. has core security interests at stake in the Sahel, many of which have roots in Mali

America Ignores Africa to Its Peril

Washington needs to counter the spread of terrorists and rival powers before it's too late.