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.
Ever wonder what happened to the two men Yemeni security forces captured back in August in a raid on an al-Qaeda safehouse in Tarim, which killed Hamza al-Qu’ayti and four […]
Postings will be even lighter than the new and reduced version of Waq al-waq, as I will be traveling for the next two days.
I was on al-Jazeera English yesterday talking about the recent attempted attack.
Given yesterday’s attack on Muhammad bin Nayif, I thought it might be helpful if I posted an excerpt from a talk I gave on August 19. The following is pasted […]
Waq al-waq has just learned that Hamid al-Ahmar will be a guest on al-Jazeera’s Bila Hadud on Wednesday. Watch, enjoy and then comment.
… with this confused and contradictory article. I have no idea who wrote this, but whoever it is needs a better editor – can one really say: “The last thing […]
Major newspapers employ individuals who fact check their articles, including the opinion pieces of columnists, yes? Someone please enlighten me if this is not the case. I have written a […]
In the experiment in vanity that is Waq al-waq, I have added a post, which has its own permanent link on the sidebar of a list of non-academic articles. So […]
This article (English) reminds me of the problems that certain academics (who shan’t be named here) had attempting to explain how something like the September 11 attacks could have happened […]
I made the mistake of listening to bin Laden’s newest tape, which comes with English sub-titles and both an Arabic text and an English translation, before my coffee this morning. […]
News Yemen helps to explain the strategic importance of Jabal Dukhan and gives a bit more information, which is helpful since the mountain is not in my mu’ajim al-buldan.
I don’t have time for much more than a quick up-date on the war in Sa’dah – I return home on Friday and hope to have more time to write […]
I caught a bit of the video of the protests in al-Dhala’ this morning on al-Jazeera streaming video. Al-Tagheer is reporting that at least seven people were injured. Meanwhile the […]
As promised Waqal–waq is bringing you yet another discussion of an article from Sada al–Malahim. Today’s installment is: “The Apostates: Stages of Confrontation.” The term used in the title, al–rafida […]
Below are books I recommend on Yemen, divided into four categories based on nothing other than my own biases.General/Accessible:Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land, Tim Mackintosh-Smith(US Title: Yemen: The Unknown Arabia)My […]
One of the things I most enjoy about blogging and about Waq al-waq in particular is the questions and discussions that often build off of posts. I have seen the […]
Waq al-waq has added a new blog to our links. This one is run by Haley Sweetland Edwards and Paul Stephens.I met Haley at an OPC event last year and […]
It is nice to see the readership of Waq al-waq so on the ball as I’ve temporarily stepped away from the wheel – no need to worry Brian is an […]
Brian is now a cog in the federal justice system so it is up to me to carry the weight, at least for today.Husayn al-Jarabani of al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that […]
Mareb Press is reporting that there is an initial deal or rather the framework of an initial deal to delay parliamentary elections for two years. This is not all that […]
According to this News Yemen piece as well as this from al-Tagheer, the AQ suspect arrested today in Hudaydah is 35-year-old Muhammad Abduh Salih al-Hudali from al-Raymah – the same […]
This afternoon’s installment on Sada al-Malahim will be a bit shorter than earlier versions, as there is much in the article that I will be publishing later in a different […]
In case you didn’t get a chance to watch Richard Fontaine on Washington Journal you can now see it on-line here.
It was a busy weekend – both in Yemen and for the Waq al-waq team – but despite our busy schedules we are going to try to bring you a […]
Al-Qaeda in Yemen Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. Location:Carnegie Endowment for International PeacePanel: Gregory D. Johnsen, Shari Villarosa, Christopher Boucek U.S. and Yemeni counterterrorism efforts dealt […]
I don’t have much time this morning as I’m late for a meeting, but a press release from the Yemen Embassy as well as numerous stories (all coming from this […]
Just days after al-Zawahiri’s audiotape “From Kabul to Somalia” was released the fighting in the latter has picked up. The NY Times has coverage here, and Reuters has more coverage […]
I thought it might be appropriate to kick-off this blog with a story focusing on a problem that will be with us for the forseeable future, far beyond the closing […]
As I have skimmed through the Wikileaks documents coming out of San’a and Riyadh I have been asking myself a number of different questions here are three (I promise some […]
For those of you, who like me, missed Hamid al-Ahmar on al-Jazeera yesterday, you are definitely going to want to find a transcript of the program, as al-Ahmar calls on […]