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.
Before 2010 fades even further into the distance, I wanted to bring you Waq al-waq’s first (and possibly only) best of list. That is, my pick for the two best […]
Everyone in Yemen is catching it. Early last week, seven ministers and two deputies resigned their posts so that they could compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for April. […]
We all know that Yemen has serious problems that are not limited to just AQAP. But there have also been a few bright spots in recent months. Topping the list […]
Today Charlie Savage of the New York Times, who does an excellent job making complicated legal stories understandable, has a piece on the latest bit of Guantanamo Bay news. According […]
Tis the season for lists, and Attorney General Eric Holder has one and Anwar al-Awlaki is on it. Speaking to ABC television, Holder said that al-Awlaki was on the same […]
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 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 – […]
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, […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a hearing on Yemen this week – Yemen: Confronting al–Qaeda, Preventing State Failure – of which I will be a part. I […]
News Yemen is now reporting that al-Watani editor, ‘Abd al-Raqib al-Hadayani, has been released although more than 40 people are still in custody after today’s events in al-Dhala’. Naba News, […]
The news is still coming in about today’s ambush in Yemen, which left at least three security officials dead with some reports claiming 7 dead.Both Mareb Press and News Yemen […]
For those who missed it or who don’t read the comments section of Waq al-waq, yesterday the Yemeni government – through its official daily, al-Thawra – published a blacklist of […]
One of the old men of Yemeni tribal politics – which, I guess, is really the same as saying Yemeni politics – Shaykh Sinan Abu Lahum, he of the 4-volume […]
AQAP has a new video out, and just in time. This is the video that was teased in issue 8 of Sada al-Malahim along with the audio message from ‘Adil […]
The problems in the south continue, as the government decided to storm the offices of al-Ayyam, which have been under siege for the past several days. The AFP is reporting […]
More accusations and counter-accusations over the deaths of two soldiers in Sa’dah. Could this be the beginning of the sixth war? Here at Waq al-waq, we have been warning for […]