Is Africa the epicenter of today’s jihad? Bill and Caleb discuss, including in the context of Mali, the drawdown of African Union forces in Somalia, and one of Uganda’s worst terrorist attacks in more than a decade.
Bill welcomes back to the show Generation Jihad regular Ambassador Edmund Fitton-Brown. Now a member of the Counter Extremism Project’s advisory board, Edmund previously served as the UK’s Ambassador to Yemen and later as the coordinator of the U.N. Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team.
Edmund’s former team at the U.N. just released its latest report on Afghanistan which details (among other troubling issues) just how embedded al Qaeda is in Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
Bill and Edmund dissect the report’s findings.
Musa Ali Daqduq, a Hezbollah military commander and Specially Designated Global Terrorist, is training the “Golan Unit” to attack American troops operating in Syria.
Host Bill Roggio is joined by two of his FDD colleagues to unpack the context surrounding Turkey’s imminent presidential elections.
Jonathan Schanzer is the Senior Vice President for Research at FDD, where Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow. Both are Turkey experts. (One has taken a harder hit from pro-government Turks on Twitter than the other.)
From President Erdogan’s thinly-veiled political opportunism — like his 180 on Syria; his regional charm offensive, particularly with Israel; and his role as a U.S. “counterterrorism partner” — and his blatant corruption — like his mismanagement of earthquake aid and his allowing Turkey to be a terrorist superhighway — to an opposition candidate’s eleventh hour dropout, this is your starter pack for understanding what’s about to unfold in Turkey.
Host Bill Roggio and co-host Caleb Weiss are joined by the associate professor for national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, Dr. Craig Whiteside, for a deep dive into the ranks of the Islamic State. They discuss leaders of past and present and their roles within the broader IS.
Bill Roggio is joined by co-host Caleb Weiss to unpack updates related to the global Jihad from West Africa to Southeast Asia, including CENTCOM’s announcement of a helicopter raid that targeted a senior Islamic State official.
To unpack and assess the latest terror threats faced by Israel, Bill had to call in the experts: Dr. Jonathan Schanzer and Joe Truzman.
If you’d like to dig deeper on the topics discussed in this episode, we recommend you check out Joe’s project on mapping terrorism in the West Bank and Jon’s book “Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War” which according to LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster: “If you want to understand the hell in a very small place that is Gaza, read this book.”
Host Bill Roggio is joined by FDD Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu to disuss Behnam’s major new FDD Monograph — Arsenal: Assessing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program — including through the lens of Iran’s shadow war against Israel, AKA “the war between wars.”
Host Bill Roggio and (now official) co-host Caleb Weiss are joined by former coordinator of the UN Security Council Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring team Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss findings in the latest UN report on the Islamic State and al Qaeda.
Host Bill Roggio is joined again by (semi-official?) co-host Caleb Weiss to discuss Jihadi control in Africa. In the last several years, Jihadists have moved toward central and southern Mali and are now threatening Bamako, the capital of Mali. In Burkina Faso, Jihadis control around 40% of the country. Bill and Caleb walk through past and present Jihadi attacks, offenses, and operations.
Host Bill Roggio is joined again by John Hardie, deputy director of FDD’s Russia Program, to discuss the latest developments from Russia’s war in Ukraine, including Russia’s recent change in command of its forces.
Hosts Bill and Caleb are joined by Ryan O’Farrell, a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation (where Caleb is also a senior analyst) to discuss one of the more obscure Islamic insurgencies in the world: the conflict in Mozambique.
Bill is joined again by John Hardie — Deputy Director of FDD’s Russia Program — for an update on Russia’s war in Ukraine, particularly to unpack Russia’s Kherson retreat. Where does Putin go from here?
Bill is joined again by Caleb Weiss to dive into the various military leaders of Al Qaeda and the dangers of their leadership and legacy — particularly, they dive into the history and background of Abu Huzaifah al Sudani and his role in Al Qaeda.
Bill is joined again by Caleb Weiss, long-time contributor to Long War Journal and friend of the show. They discuss why al Qaeda hasn’t (publicly) named a successor to Zawahiri, as well as several updates on Shabaab.
Host Bill Roggio is again joined by John Hardie, deputy director of FDD’s Russia Program, to discuss the latest from Russia’s war in Ukraine, including Putin’s announcements on mobilization and additional annexations as well as other developments from the battlefield.
In the first iteration of Long War Journal’s expanding coverage, Bill is joined by John Hardie, deputy director of FDD’s Russia Program, to examine the current state of Russia’s war in Ukraine. They unpack and analyze the latest information, from tactical and theater-level to strategic.
Bill is joined again by Edmund Fitton-Brown and Caleb Weiss to take a look at the current global footprint of the Islamic State.
Friend of the show LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster joins Bill once again to discuss America’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan one year ago. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — including an ongoing close relationship with al Qaeda, the United States designated the Taliban as “partners in peace” and handed the terrorist group keys to a state apparatus. Afghanistan fell and became the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. But it didn’t have to.
In this episode, Bill interviews John Batchelor, host of CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor. Bill has been a regular on John’s radio show for more than a decade and considers him a mentor and friend. They discuss the Long War and how September 11, 2001 shaped both of their careers.
Bill is joined again by Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at FDD, and by Joe Truzman, research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal, to discuss the latest round of violence that emanated from the Gaza Strip this weekend and eventually resulted in an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. They also unpack details about the terrorist group behind the escalation, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — including where they get their weapons, training, and funding (spoiler alert: it’s Iran).
Edmund Fitton-Brown — outgoing coordinator of the UN Security Council Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring team and longtime friend of the show — joins Bill to discuss the killing of Al Qaeda emir Ayman Zawahiri, who died in a U.S. drone strike last Sunday.
In this episode, Bill flies solo and expands upon his recent article in FDD’s Long War Journal, “Ayman al Zawahiri is alive; Taliban and Al Qaeda ‘remain close,’ UN reports,” noting that reports today (August 1, 2022) of Zawahiri’s death inside of Afghanistan underscore the country’s role as a safe-haven for Al Qaeda.
You guessed it. Our guest is, indeed, Caleb Weiss. This time, he and Bill discuss how (and which) prison breaks fit into the larger strategy of various Jihadi groups — and why some don’t bother.
Caleb Weiss is back to unpack with Bill the controversy surrounding the former head of Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). They discuss his background and build a context for better understanding the recent headlines concerning the ex-chief.
Al Qaeda’s central leadership remains organized with its branches actively carrying out orders passed down from Ayman al Zawahiri who sits at the helm and remains an influential figure in Jihad. Host Bill Roggio is joined by Long War Journal contributor Caleb Weiss to discuss the state of Al Qaeda under Zawahiri’s leadership.
Host Bill Roggio is joined by FDD Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer and Long War Journal’s Joe Truzman to discuss some of the latest and most pressing news from Israel — including the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
Host Bill Roggio briefs listeners on some of the latest news related to Afghanistan — including a few buried headlines you might have missed.
Adding to the uptick in rocket fire from Gaza, suspected Palestinian militants fired a projectile from Lebanon that exploded in northern Israel Monday morning.
In just under three weeks, the most recent string of terrorism to strike Israel has so far included four high-profile attacks that left 13 dead and many more injured across Israel — including in heavily-populated civilian areas like Be’er Sheba and Tel Aviv. Just yesterday, a terrorist opened fire on civilians enjoying an evening out on Tel Aviv’s famous Dizengoff Street, known for its bustling nightlife. We’re approaching almost one-year since the 2021 Gaza Conflict. Is any of this related? Who is responsible? Are these lone-wolf attacks? Have any jihadi groups claimed responsibility? Should we believe them? To make sense of what’s happening, host Bill Roggio is joined by Long War Journal’s Joe Truzman to unpack and analyze the latest information from a variety of sources.