Islam

Planet War

From the bloody civil wars in Africa to the rag-tag insurgiences in Southeast Asia, 33 conflicts are raging around the world today, and it’s often innocent civilians who suffer the most.

BY KAYVAN FARZANEH, ANDREW SWIFT, PETER WILLIAMS | FEBRUARY 22, 2010

The Good Ayatollah

Why my former cellmate's legacy will live on.

BY ABBAS MILANI | MARCH/APRIL 2010

What Do Saudis Want?

A rare, in-depth look at what the kingdom's citizens really believe on hot-button issues ranging from military action against Iran to al Qaeda to the state of their cloistered country's economic and political life.

BY DAVID POLLOCK | FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Dead Terrorists Tell No Tales

Is Barack Obama killing too many bad guys before the U.S. can interrogate them?

BY MARC A. THIESSEN | FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Learning From Dropouts

A number of former jihadists have voluntarily resigned from al Qaeda and its offshoots in recent years. Understanding why they walked away may be key to countering radicalization in the future.

BY MICHAEL JACOBSON | FEBRUARY 1, 2010

CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding

A study in "enhanced reporting techniques."

BY JEFF STEIN | JANUARY 26, 2010

The Worst of the Worst

These are some of the jihadi pundits who are making waves on al Qaeda's Web forums today -- and could potentially trade their keyboards for suicide vests tomorrow.

BY JARRET BRACHMAN | JANUARY 22, 2010

Al Qaeda's Armies of One

Meet the next generation of jihadi pundits.

BY JARRET BRACHMAN | JANUARY 22, 2010

Revolutionary Ayatollah

How my father went from the prison of the shah to the prison of Khamenei.

BY MEHDI KHALAJI | JANUARY 19, 2010

Eurabian Follies

The shoddy and just plain wrong genre that refuses to die. 

BY JUSTIN VAÏSSE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

The Islamists Are Not Coming

Religious parties in the Muslim world are hardly the juggernauts they've been made out to be.

BY CHARLES KURZMAN, IJLAL NAQVI | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

Dancing the Apocalypso

Millions of religious believers around the world share a passionate belief in the coming of doomsday -- and that means that the End of Days will remain a factor in politics at least until, well, the end of humankind.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | DECEMBER 31, 2009

Muslims and the Caliphate

A top representative of the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir responds to FP's Christian Caryl.

DECEMBER 30, 2009

Losing Cairo?

Since Barack Obama's speech six months ago, the Muslim world has begun to lose hope in the United States. But it's not too late ... yet.

BY ANDREW ALBERTSON | DECEMBER 24, 2009

The Party’s Not Over

Does Islamist party Hizb-ut-Tahrir pose a threat to Western society? The answer may well be yes -- but that doesn't mean it should be banned.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | DECEMBER 22, 2009

How al Qaeda Dupes Its Followers

Osama bin Laden's terror network has perfected the art of masking its unpopular agenda with a recruitment pitch that can hook just about anyone.

BY MALCOLM NANCE | DECEMBER 15, 2009

Will There Always Be a Pakistan?

Fissures within the military could tear not just the army but the entire country apart. It's coming sooner than you think.

BY SETH CROPSEY | DECEMBER 11, 2009

The Al Qaeda Diaries

As the Pakistani soldiers moved into South Waziristan, they found something almost as valuable as al Qaeda itself: the diaries and books that explain how militant ideology binds the diffuse world of terrorism together.

BY IMTIAZ GUL | NOVEMBER 20, 2009

A Web of Lone Wolves

Fort Hood shows us that Internet jihad is not a myth.

BY EVAN KOHLMANN | NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Destroying al Qaeda Is Not an Option (Yet)

If the world's most notorious network goes down, terrorism will get a whole lot messier.

BY GUSTAVO DE LAS CASAS | NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Who's Really Running Iran's Green Movement

Here’s a hint: It's not Mousavi, Khatami, or Karroubi.

BY MEHDI KHALAJI | NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Iran's Enemy Is Not America's Friend

Why supporting the terrorists who are trying to take down the Revolutionary Guard will only come back to haunt us.

BY JAMSHEED K. CHOKSY | OCTOBER 20, 2009

Fighting Terror the Cold War Way

Books, art, and culture can help win the battle of ideas in the Middle East.

BY TODD HELMUS, DALIA DASSA KAYE | OCTOBER 14, 2009

A Recipe for Somalia

A light footprint won’t work in Afghanistan. Just look at the Horn of Africa for all the reasons why not.

BY RICHARD BENNET | OCTOBER 13, 2009

Seven Questions: Rafiq Husseini

Rafiq Husseini, one of President Mahmoud Abbas's closest advisors, discusses the recent tensions in Jerusalem -- and what it says about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Interview by DAVID KENNER | OCTOBER 12, 2009

Think Again: Lawrence of Arabia

Afghanistan is a mess. Suicide bombs are still going off in Iraq. Is nation-building doomed to failure? It's time to consult the original insurgent, T.E. Lawrence.

BY JOHN C. HULSMAN | SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Think Again: Palestine

President Obama got the leaders of Israel and Palestine to shake hands this week. But a meeting in Midtown does not a Palestinian deal make. Here’s why.

BY ZAHI KHOURI | SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Losing the War of Exhaustion

It's not low troop levels that stand to defeat the United States in Afghanistan. It's plain old public fatigue.

BY MARK T. KIMMITT | SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

Stuck in the Middle East

Obama's go get-'em diplomacy with Israel and Iran is on a collision course with failure.

BY STEVEN J. ROSEN | SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

The Truth About Christian Zionists

Why pro-Israel Christians really support the Jewish state, push for sanctions on Iran, and want the United States to stop pressuring Jerusalem.

BY DAVID BROG | SEPTEMBER 16, 2009