Gregory Johnsen
Near East Studies Scholar, Princeton University
Gregory Johnsen, a former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Johnsen has written for a variety of publications on Yemen including, among others, Foreign Policy, The American Interest, The Independent, The Boston Globe, and The National. He is the co-founder of Waq al-Waq: Islam and Insurgency in Yemen Blog. In 2009, he was a member of the USAID's conflict assessment team for Yemen.
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of al-Qaeda’s assassination of Muhammad Rubaysh, a security official in Marib. Mareb Press has an article about the event, which includes the kind of biographical […]
Khalid al-Hammadi, one of the best reporters out there, writes in al-Quds al-Arabi on electoral politics and the opposition warning the government (GPC) against playing with fire.(For another take, my […]
Thanks to everyone who came to the event yesterday at Carnegie, particularly to all of you who came up to talk about the blog. I believe Carnegie will have a […]
I’ll do a full recap of the yesterday’s events a bit later today, when I have time to read Khalid’s full article above the fold in al-Quds al-Arabi, but for […]
The early news out of Saudi Arabia is that Muhammad bin Nayif, the Deputy Interior Minister, escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber with only light injuries. It is […]
Even though I’m technically on vacation and studiously avoiding anything that resembles work (I don’t think Richard Yates counts), I couldn’t resist a quick peak at the latest issue of […]
I’ve been waiting for this program on al-Qaeda in Yemen to come out for a few days, and now al-Arabiyya has finally posted it to its website. I haven’t read […]
Since it appears as though I’m blogging again, Waq al-waq is doing a bit of housekeeping and has changed some of the sidebars. You know, keeping everything up to-date. Up […]
Why do people keep saying that al-Shirri was involved in the September 2008 attack on the US Embassy in Yemen? This quote is from a press release from Senator Orrin […]
More fighting in the north. After al-‘Awfi’s confession, I think everyone should be worried about the pressure the Saudis may bring to bear on San’a to go after the al-Huthi’s […]
Despite Hilal’s work on the mediation committee and Salih’s insistence that everything is fine, the rest of the government seems to be operating off of a different playbook.Mareb Press is […]
From time to time Waq al-waq may criticize journalists working on Yemen a bit too much, but we also have our favorites whom we respect. Many of these journalists, I […]
This is why the names and the details that Waq al-waq so cherishes are important:(CNN) — A man described as “one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous members” was arrested in […]
Khalid al-Hammadi writes about the arms deal with Russia in al-Quds al-Arabi. (Speaking of Khalid, I would recommend his 1999 interview with Tariq al-Fadhli in al-Quds al-Arabi, which I re-read […]
Despite appearances to the contrary – here at Waq al-waq we don’t actually enjoy playing gotcha, well, ok – sometimes we do. But not all the time. Case in point, […]
For those with an interest, I will be a guest on al-Hurra today (5pm -6pm EST) along with some others talking about the war in Sa’dah.
Earlier this morning I wrote that the Washington Post had gotten ‘Abdullah al-Midhar’s name wrong for what I called “reasons passing understanding.” Those reasons have now become clear to me, […]
The Ministry of the Interior has announced that it has arrested six Somalis on suspicions of belonging to al-Qaeda. The story is a bit sparse on details, but much of […]
I saw this story in Arabic yesterday, and today the BBC has it, saying that Jabir al-Fayfi the surrendered or captured al-Qaeda member (either way he is in Saudi custody) […]
Al-Arabiyya has two programs on Yemen. The first from the station’s Panorama program takes a look at the alleged Iranian support for the Huthis – claims that the US is […]
Oh, I love this quote by an unnamed (Is there any other kind?) Saudi adviser:“The orders are not to go physically into Yemeni territory,” he said. “We don’t want to […]
AQAP has a statement out that is claiming responsibility for the ambush that killed five in Hadramawt on Monday. The group is calling itself the AbdullahBatis Squadron, which is a […]
Waq al-waq formally announces 2010 as the year of the motorbike assassination in Yemen. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Today, a security official in Hadramawt (Sayyun, for those wanting details) […]
Over the weekend the NY Times’ Scott Shane had this piece on Yemeni detainee, Alla Ahmad, and the difficulties in closing Guantanamo as President Obama pledged. The article is, in […]
The final push is upon us, which means that posting will likely be light and/or sporadic until May 15. I’ll do my best to put up at least a token […]
We usually don’t cover good news here at Waq al-waq, which I’m sure is just as much of a commentary on us as it is on Yemen. In fact, I […]
Yemen (Hat tip: David Stringer)Sir Patrick Cormack: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for the conference on Yemen which he […]
Al-Tagheer and other news outlets are reporting that the head of the Central Security Forces in al-Jawf, Ali Zayad survived an assassination attempt on Monday. The government is blaming the […]
Given how much interest my earlier post on rumors of fighting between Huthi supporters and Salafis in Dammaj generated, I thought I would link to this News Yemen article on […]
Work has heated up with little time for blogging, so instead of actually taking the time to write a blog post on a rainy Saturday I thought it be would […]