Al Qaeda, the Internet, and the Arab Spring
Al Qaeda will take lessons from the use of the Internet in the Arab Spring, but the lessons it has learned aren’t necessarily the obvious ones.
Author Archives: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Ugandan drones: this is how rumors get started
The Wall Street Journal claims that a Ugandan drone was used in a strike that injured two Shabaab commanders. Its reporting on the matter is erroneous.
On reports that bin Laden wasn’t really running al Qaeda
A new report by McClatchy claims that bin Laden wasn’t actually in charge of al Qaeda at the end of his life. You should be skeptical.
Review of Pape and Feldman, ‘Cutting the Fuse’
While the relationship between occupation and suicide missions is worthy of serious study, this new book is not the place to find it.
Geography and history of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region
This presentation, based on a recent lecture that I delivered, examines the geography and history of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, as it applies to the current challenges that the US confronts in the region. The presentation covers several historical themes, including Afghanistan’s history of foreign invasion, how leaders gain legitimacy, center-periphery relations, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship.
Competing interests: The United States, Iraq, and Iraq’s neighbors
On December 5, The New York Times noted that while “Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was a regional menace that sent shudders through its neighbors,” today Iraq finds it difficult to restrain the ambitions of countries that share its borders — particularly as the US prepares to withdraw. The Times notes that this meddling by Iraq’s neighbors […]
New report: ‘Domestic Intelligence: New Powers, New Risks’
Today I was a panelist at the rollout event for a new report published by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, Emily Berman’s Domestic Intelligence: New Powers, New Risks. The report — which is focused on the expansion of investigatory powers in the 2008 Attorney General’s Guidelines for […]
Reflections on Osama bin Laden, and his continuing relevance
Earlier today, I did a rather lengthy written interview with a journalist from an online Romanian newspaper. In light of the new tapes Osama bin Laden released last month, he put a number of questions to me about the al Qaeda leader. I thought the following, adapted from the interview but maintaining its Q&A format, […]