Al Qaeda

Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry
Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry
The sunny days of free-riding are receding. In some form or another, most countries have leeched off American power for the last three decades. The preponderance of US military…
Misogyny is often the connection between overlapping far-right ideologies
Misogyny is often the connection between overlapping far-right ideologies
On the afternoon of 6 May, a gunman opened fire in a mall carpark in Allen, Texas, killing eight and wounding seven others before he was shot dead by a police officer. Despite…
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
There is little that the United States can concur with China and Russia at a time regularly described as a “Second (or New) Cold War”. Yet amid all the ideological differences,…
Why outsourcing counter-terrorism online won’t work in future
Why outsourcing counter-terrorism online won’t work in future
The past five years have seen the creation of a latticework of overlapping methodologies to identify and remove online terrorist content and hate speech. Most notably, a…
The very personal legacy of Ayman al-Zawahiri
The very personal legacy of Ayman al-Zawahiri
News that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed last week by US precision drone strike caught me by surprise. Zawahiri has been a fixture of the jihadist scene for decades,…
Killing the al-Qaeda chief leaves endless questions
Killing the al-Qaeda chief leaves endless questions
Killing of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone attack inside Taliban-ruled Afghanistan at the weekend has been billed as a major win by the United States…
The many consequences of a clear blue day on 11 September, 2001
The many consequences of a clear blue day on 11 September, 2001
The 9/11 attacks – four separate coordinated strikes by al-Qaeda using passenger planes as weapons of mass destruction – were the deadliest and most consequential terrorist events…
9/11: A President reacts on a day of fear and anger
9/11: A President reacts on a day of fear and anger
Twenty years on, there are many different ways to remember 9/11. Many rightly focus on the families of the victims, as Jennifer Senior does in her remarkable article in The…
Did 9/11 change our world?
Interactives
Did 9/11 change our world?
We asked six experts, “Did 9/11 define our world? If so, how? If not, what did?” After each of their responses to these questions, editor Lydia Khalil challenges the experts…
Al-Qaeda: The core problem
Al-Qaeda: The core problem
For year after year, the moustached face Abu Mohammed al-Masri has stared blankly from a photo on an FBI most-wanted poster. A founding senior member of al-Qaeda, al-Masri…