Guest Thinkers

It is the time of the year to look back on the eruptions of 2010. As I did last year, I will be recounting the Volcanic Year in Review and […]

The Washington Post reveals how U.S. counter-terrorism efforts since 9/11 have filtered down into local communities. Part of its ongoing, intensive look at the huge security buildup.

Hell hath no fury, than a scorned student, or rather the collective fury of scorned students. Now I can exclusively reveal that British students are busy working on a scheme […]

No, no it is not Sada al-Malahim, but News Yemen writes about a new newspaper in Yemen, al-Hayat al-Yawm that devotes a significant portion of its first issue to al-Qaeda. […]

I know Greg posted below about Christopher Boucek’s Carnegie piece, but having read it last night I want to doubly endorse it. It is a large overview, but unlike many […]

Snow and a broken computer have gotten the week off to a slow start, but across the globe in Yemen things are picking up, even though you wouldn’t know it […]

Over the past few days I have exchanged a number of messages with a Yemeni friend about the upcoming London conference – I don’t have permission to post his comments, […]

I have just finished a first reading of the three statements AQAP posted to jihadi forums earlier today. The one that is getting the most attention – not surprisingly – […]

I often miss things on Yemen here at Waq al-waq, and two of the articles I have missed in recent days have been by academics who study Yemen. (Full disclosure: […]

I am traveling the next couple of days, and blogging will likely be sporadic until I return to Princeton on Wednesday just in time for a talk.In the meantime here […]

Hamid al-Ahmar has been named the “most prominent political personality of 2009” in a poll conducted by Yemen Today. This should surprise no one besides a few in the US […]

While protesters were clashing with security forces and militias in the south, the fighting continued in the north between Huthi supporters and government forces all the while President Salih is […]

Tomorrow the new issue of Foreign Policy hits the newsstands. Inside the issue I have a small(ish) article on Yemen. The article was solicited months ago as part of a […]

The fall-out from al-Fadhli’s announcement continues. (I have a very interesting assessment in my in-box from a Yemen, which I’m hoping to post once I get his/her permission – along […]

For those with any interest, I did a couple of radio spots this morning, although if you are reading this you have probably heard it all before.First on the Takeaway […]

For those of you who have been closely following the reports out of Yemen lately it appears as though either A.) the al-Haniq family of Arhab is the most dangerous […]

The government has launched a massive campaign against the Huthis. Heavy fighting is reported, in the latest round of this debilitating, years-long struggle, in which neither side seems capable of […]

Just in time for my post on AQAP’s financing, the GAO has released a new report on al-Qaeda financing in Saudi Arabia. (Full disclosure: I participated in an interview for […]

It has been just under a month since I made the decision to drastically reduce my posts – one a month, or so – and while I’m still trying to […]

Laurent Bonnefoy, a bright young French scholar, has a new article out on the Varieties of Islamism in Yemen.I respect Laurent’s opinion, but I don’t agree with everything he says […]

Abdulahi is promising more information on his January interview with Nasir al-Wahayshi on his blog. Along with everyone else I’m excited and waiting. Also of interest our two new Yemeni […]

Neither Greg nor I are energy experts- even The Prize, as gripping as it was, was more or less Finnegan’s Wake for me. And zinc mines are nowhere near as […]

One of the more frustrating things about watching and reading the coverage of Yemen over the past month has been the insistence – some of it by people who really […]

For the past few years one of the more intriguing questions about Yemen has been: what is Muhammad bin Nayyif (Saudi Arabia’s deputy Minister of the Interior) thinking about his […]

Here at Waq al-waq we like to pride ourselves on our gravitas and serious attention to detail and historical fact – except of course when we are talking about swords […]

Yemen, or at least the newspapers in Yemen, are fairly quiet this morning.Trey pointed out that the Ministry of the Interior has put together a list of terrorist that combines […]

I have had some more conversations today about the truce that al-Ghad reported, and at least some government sources are pouring cold water on the report. This is the first […]

Headline! Shi’ites Warn Of New War In YemenLede! “The Iranian-sponsored Shi’ite revolt could again erupt inYemen.”If you follow Yemen, you probably know there are a few things wrong here. If […]

Thanks to the good people at the Carnegie Endowment, Tuesday’s event is now on-line for any and all who weren’t able to make it but still might have an interest. […]

One can sometimes get the impression – not from reading this blog, of course – that all Islamists are violent, even if they aren’t all al-Qaeda. For those, I would […]