Al-Qaeda post-Bin Laden: what next?

Murad Batal Al-Shishani 2 May 2011
The Salafi-jihadist movement is losing its recruitment pool in the Arab world. Its latest strategies look elsewhere, and the death of Osama Bin Laden will not affect these plans.

Refolution in the Arab world

John Keane 28 April 2011
A new word is needed to describe these events of recent months. They should be called ‘refolutions’, radical refusals of the old choice between reform and revolution - remarkably sensitive to the grave dangers and high costs of using violent means to get their way

A Yemeni finale or another of Saleh’s crescendos?

James Spencer 13 April 2011
President Saleh's response to the protests has increased in violence, causing him some major defections, yet he has clung to power. International supporters are concerned that an end to Saleh’s era may result in chaos, possibly allowing al-Qa’ida room, however the tribes of Yemen are likely to prevent this as it threatens their interests and way of life.

Yemen's perilous change

Fatima Abo al-Asrar 13 April 2011
While the fate of Yemen's president remains unclear, so does the country’s future. The fundamental question is whether the unrest can succeed in addressing the aspirations of Yemen’s youth, or further empower its entrenched tribal leaders.

Yemen: Saleh’s final dance

Sarah El-Richani and Samia Al-Aghbary 14 March 2011
There are many different strands to the protest under way in Yemen, including old and new grievances, and signs that some of them are coming together.

International pressure on Gaddafi mounts

Josephine Whitaker 28 February 2011
International pressure on Gaddafi mounts. Belarus violates Ivorian arms embargo as violence escalates. Rangoon bomb blast. Yemen to announce government of national unity within 24 hours. North Korea threatens war over leaflets. All this and more in today’s briefing...

Protesters under fire from land, sea and air in Libya

Josephine Whitaker 21 February 2011
Gaddafi uses planes to attack protesters. Ivorian troops fire on protesters as AU leaders seek resolution. Congo colonel sentenced to jail for rapes. Saleh rejects demands to go as Yemeni troops fire on demonstrators. All this and more in today’s briefing.

Egypt, Algeria, Yemen: Further reading on the Arab uprising

Tarek Osman, Martin Evans, John Phillips, and Victoria Clark 19 February 2011
Yale University Press have issued this sampler from recent books on the Egypt, Yemen and Algeria. All provide important background information on the histories, societies, politics and economies of nations now thrust into the media spotlight.

The Arab 1989?

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, David Held, and Alia Brahimi 11 February 2011
The uprisings sweeping across the Middle East portend a political transformation as significant as those of 1989. The economic stagnation of the region, the failures of corrupt and repressive autocratic regimes, conjoined with a disenchanted youthful population wired together as never before, have triggered a political struggle few anticipated. Yet 1989 is not an entirely clear point of reference - the emergence of peaceful mass movements of change is a parallel, but the pull of the West, so marked in 1989, is weaker and more complex. Accordingly, the path ahead for these brave, inspiring, challenging movements is more uncertain.

America vs al-Qaida: the widening war

Paul Rogers 11 November 2010
The signals of growing turbulence in a range of military environments - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and beyond - send a worrying message to Washington.

UK terrorism strategy fails to take comprehensive approach to threat from Yemen and Somalia

Josephine Whitaker 4 November 2010
UK terrorism strategy fails to take comprehensive approach to threat from Yemen and Somalia. Spike in Haiti cholera cases. New constitution approved by electorate in Niger heralds return to civilian rule. Kenya denies entry to Somali refugees. All this and more in today’s security briefing...

Yemen: canary in the coal mine

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen 1 November 2010
Yemen is a sign of what can go wrong when a country fails to develop political legitimacy and build a sustainable, productive non-oil economy. What kind of augury is this contested transition for the Gulf states and for the world?

Blackwater still in the dock, but for how long?

Luke Heighton 27 October 2010
Blackwater trials failing to produce convictions. Yemen resource conflict highlighted in two reports. Arms thought to be destined for Nigerian Delta intercepted. Karzai presses ahead with ban on private military companies, drawing mixed response. All this and more in today's security briefing.

Al-Qaida: condition and prospect

Paul Rogers 14 October 2010
A series of developments across greater west Asia offers evidence of al-Qaida’s dispersed reality, continued energy and potential vulnerability.

Pakistan condemns US drone use in north-west

Josephine Whitaker 7 October 2010
Pakistan condemns US drone use in north-west as Pak-US relations hit new low. Attack on British Embassy in Yemen highlights declining security situation there. Ugandan president offers to send 20,000 troops to bolster UN peacekeepers in Somalia. Guinean officials agree to run-off presidential vote date after weeks of delay. All this and more in today's security briefing.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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