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The Houthis’ Red Sea power play
The Houthis are on the offensive in Yemen, threatening one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints and bringing the war back to Saudi Arabia’s doorstep. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD research analyst and Long War Journal contributor Bridget Toomey to discuss the Iranian-backed group’s renewed campaign to conquer Yemen, its advances along the Red Sea coast, and its siege of the strategic city of Taiz.
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Shipshow: The world’s waterways are at war
The world’s most critical shipping lanes are becoming battlegrounds as Iran targets commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis threaten shipping through the Bab al Mandab, and Russia and Ukraine wage an escalating maritime war in the Black Sea. Bill Roggio is joined by Dr. Sal Mercogliano to discuss how these conflicts are disrupting global trade, driving up energy prices, and threatening the freedom of navigation.
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The Taliban vs Pakistan: Can they both lose?
Five years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban is stronger than ever, Al Qaeda continues to operate under its protection, and Pakistan is learning the hard way that supporting jihadists comes with a price. Bill Roggio is joined by Will Selber to assess the state of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate, the fractured Afghan resistance, and the continued presence of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State’s Khorasan Province.
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Operation Enduring Failure: 25 years after the US invasion of Afghanistan
Was the US invasion of Afghanistan launched in October 2001 to kill or capture Al Qaeda’s leaders and oust the Taliban from power a success or a failure? Generation Jihad host Bill Roggio talks with terrorism expert Thomas Joscelyn about the failures of Operation Enduring Freedom and how they cascaded into the terrorism threats we now face from Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other jihadist groups.
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Is Hezbollah finished, or just adapting?
Generation Jihad guest host David Daoud, an FDD senior fellow focused on Lebanon and Hezbollah, talks with Lina Khatib, an associate fellow in Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, about her July trip in southern Lebanon, why the 2006 war never put the LAF in charge of the border, and whether Beirut can take Hezbollah’s weapons now that the group is weaker and Assad is gone.
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The truth about America’s munitions crisis
What is the true nature of America’s munitions crisis? What are the consequences of the current challenges? How did we get into this position? And what must we do to build the defense industrial base production capacity and munitions arsenals that the US needs? Generation Jihad guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by Colonel (Ret.) Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss the true state of America’s defense industrial base and arsenal.
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The UN Monitoring Team’s latest report: Where the global jihad stands now
Generation Jihad guest host Edmund Fitton-Brown, FDD senior fellow and former coordinator of the UN Monitoring Team, talks with Colin Smith, the Monitoring Team’s current coordinator, about what the latest 1267 report shows about Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their affiliates, plus how the report is built and the challenges of keeping the spotlight on jihadist groups.
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What is the Axis of Aggressors doing in Europe and the Middle East?
China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are engaged in “unprecedented” cooperation, empowering Russian aggression in Ukraine and making the regime in Iran more lethal and resilient. Generation Jihad guest host Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), discusses these relationships and impacts with John Hardie, deputy director of FDD’s Russia program, and Cameron McMillan, senior research analyst at FDD’s CMPP.
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25 years later: The state of Al Qaeda
Twenty-five years after 9/11, analysts still can’t agree on whether Al Qaeda is a spent force or a resurgent threat. Generation Jihad’s Bill Roggio and co-host Will Selber speak with guest Graeme Wood, staff writer at The Atlantic, and unpack his new article on the group’s uncertain legacy.
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UN report: The jihad’s new center of gravity
Generation Jihad’s Bill Roggio and Edmund Fitton-Brown, FDD senior fellow and former coordinator of the UN Monitoring Team, unpack the new UN 1267 report on the global state of the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and their affiliated groups.
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Generation Jihad | China, Russia, Iran, North Korea: Inside the Axis of Aggressors
China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea aren’t just aligned in rhetoric—they’re actively coordinating to erode American military, economic, and cyber dominance. In this episode, Generation Jihad’s Bill Roggio sits down with Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, and Ryan Brobst, CMPP deputy director, to unpack the real-world mechanics behind this dangerous authoritarian convergence.
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Generation Jihad | Losing ground: Somalia and Mali’s jihad problem
The US is losing leverage in Somalia as frustration with Mogadishu threatens critical African Union support and risks strengthening Al Shabaab’s hold. In Mali, renewed US airstrikes against JNIM raise a parallel concern—whether air power alone, without a ground strategy or political reform, can contain the group’s advance. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss examine these dynamics across the Sahel and the assess the murky state of Al Qaeda.
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Generation Jihad | Seeking forgiveness from the Taliban
Former Marine and New York Times journalist Thomas Gibbons-Neff recently returned to Afghanistan to find accountability and closure, specifically seeking out a Taliban commander he had battled in 2010. Bill Roggio and Will Selber break down the merits of Gibbons-Neff’s recent tour in country and whether this type of article will skew a full understanding of the Afghan War as the 25th anniversary of 9/11 nears.
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Generation Jihad | What is Iran’s breaking point? Part 2
In part two of their conversation, Generation Jihad’s Bill Roggio, FDD CMPP Senior Director Bradley Bowman, and FDD Senior Analyst Cameron McMillan ask a tough question following months of kinetic warfare with Iran: What’s the Pentagon’s readiness for the next battle?
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Generation Jihad | What is Iran’s breaking point?
The US says it’s degrading Iran’s threat, but as the renewed air campaign approaches the two-week mark, the math still doesn’t check out. In Part 1 of this conversation, Generation Jihad’s Bill Roggio joins FDD CMPP Senior Director Bradley Bowman and Senior Analyst Cameron McMillan to discuss the real gap between degrading Iran’s missile, drone, and naval capabilities and actually eliminating them, and why murky end goals could lead to a long-term, inconclusive standoff.
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Generation Jihad | The blockade’s back: US-Iran MOU unravels
The Iran ceasefire is dead. FDD Research Analyst Janatan Sayeh and Bill Roggio discuss whether Europe may finally be turning on Tehran, whether Israel will rejoin the active fight, and whether the weakened Islamic Regime survives by unleashing its terror proxies across the Gulf.
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Generation Jihad | Hezbollah’s moment of truth
A new 14-point trilateral framework toward ending hostilities in Lebanon puts Hezbollah, Iran’s strongest terror proxy, at a crossroads. Disarm and let Lebanon reclaim its southern border—or keep threatening Israel and risk blowing up the fragile US-Iran peace deal. FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud joins Bill Roggio to break down what’s really at stake in these negotiations.
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Generation Jihad | Is the MOU DOA?
One week after President Trump signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran, the 60-day negotiation window is already under pressure—and the concessions are piling up. So, is this two-page MOU actually worth the paper it’s written on? FDD Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu joins Bill Roggio to break it all down.
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Generation Jihad | Fog of the deal
President Trump said that a two-page memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran that will end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. But will this deal bring about a lasting peace in the region, or has peace just become another five-letter word? FDD Senior Fellow David Daoud and Bill Roggio speculate as to what will become of the Middle East and America’s influence in the region as this very thin MOU moves forward.
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Generation Jihad | Gaza: Smoldering battlefield?
Despite multiple attempts by Israel to quell the fighting in Gaza and decapitate Hamas’s leadership, the group continues a guerilla-style resistance. The IDF now fights on three active fronts: Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza. But it’s perhaps the forgotten war in Gaza that could resume major hostilities if left unchecked. Bill Roggio speaks with FDD Research Analyst Samuel Ben-Ur about next steps in Gaza.
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Generation Jihad | The next caliphate battleground
While attention remains fixed elsewhere, jihadist groups are expanding across Africa. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss revisit the growing threats in Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia—and why the continent remains one of the most consequential battlegrounds in the war against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
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Generation Jihad | Everybody wants a McWar
Iran’s military has been shattered. The Strait of Hormuz remains contested. Three months in, Bill Roggio and FDD’s Jon Schanzer examine why quick victories are rare, patience is scarce, and this war is entering its most consequential phase yet.
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Generation Jihad | POV: FPV (or: “The Anarchist Cookbook of war”)
Hezbollah’s missiles may be depleted, but cheap FPV drones are changing the battlefield — slipping past defenses, targeting Israeli troops, and exposing a dangerous new vulnerability. Bill Roggio and David Daoud unpack Hezbollah’s drone evolution, the psychological warfare behind the footage, and why Israel may be drifting back toward the failed security zone dynamics of the past.
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Generation Jihad | Dune: the Brotherhood jihad
Before Hamas. Before Al Qaeda. Before the Islamic State. There was… the Muslim Brotherhood. And for nearly a century, it has played the long game by building influence across the Middle East and even deep inside the West. Bill Roggio is joined Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss.
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Generation Jihad | Iran’s nukes: Degraded but not dead
Iran’s nuclear program is in ruins, but the threat is far from dead. Deputy Director of FDD’s Non-Proliferation Program Andrea Stricker and Bill Roggio dive into the desperate gamble Tehran is making at the negotiating table with the US — and the terrifying chemical contingency they might be holding in reserve.
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Generation Jihad | Gridlock at the Strait
The world’s most vital trade artery is under siege. As the US launches “Project Freedom” to break the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, global shipping remains in a chokehold. This week, Bill Roggio sits down with shipping expert Sal Mercogliano to break down the stalemate, the dual blockade, and the massive economic ripple effects threatening the global supply chain.
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Generation Jihad | Strait Strategy
Tehran is shifting the battlefield from missiles to markets, turning the Strait of Hormuz into leverage and testing whether Washington will trade long-term strategy for short-term relief. Bill Roggio and Behnam Ben Taleblu discuss.
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Generation Jihad | Can Fortress Bamako Hold?
Across Mali, jihadis are seizing territory, encircling the capital, and pushing a fragile regime toward collapse. Backed by a sprawling network and in an effort years in the making, Al Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate has launched its most ambitious offensive yet—one that could redraw the map of West Africa. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss unpack what’s going on.
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Generation Jihad | Iran’s Choke Point
Iran says it’s not in a rush to negotiate, but reality signals something else. Bill Roggio is joined by FDD Senior Fellow Miad Maleki — a former US Treasury sanctions architect — to break down why Tehran walked away from talks, what the Strait of Hormuz blockade is really doing, and why the regime may be under more pressure than at any point since 1979.
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Generation Jihad | Battle for the Strait
FDD Senior Fellow Edmund Fitton-Brown joins Bill Roggio to assess the current state of the Iran War. From the dual blockade in the Strait of Hormuz to the failed peace negotiations, they consider: Why did Pakistan step up as mediator? Can Tehran stretch the Houthis for even more leverage in the Red Sea? Has the war pushed the Gulf States closer together?
