Yemen

SANAA, 23 September 2014 (IRIN) – With northern rebels claiming the capital Sana’a and Al-Qaeda militants increasing their attacks in the south, Yemen’s security crisis is likely to continue, experts believe. While a new agreement between the Houthis rebels and the government may have temporarily reduced fears of all-out civil war, the country’s political, security […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Remember Pres. Obama Saying ISIL Campaign like Yemen? Here’s Yemen

contributors

Middle East Eye: “Houthis take to the streets to mourn the protesters killed during a sit-in at a government ministry last week, as their pro-government rivals call for more state control of weapons.” Middle East Eye: “Fears of a new civil war in Yemen as negotiations continue”

Counter-Terrorism

Obama’s ISIL Actions are Defensive, Despite Rhetoric of going on Offense

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole President Obama’s speech launching his war on ISIL avoided the qualifications that he had earlier made, which had produced caviling inside the Beltway from politicians who confuse careless belligerency with decisiveness. From a language of containing ISIL, he was forced to speak of degrading and destroying it. He went back and forth […]

Books

What the Arab Youth Movements have Wrought: Don’t Count them Out Yet

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole via Tomdispatch.com Three and a half years ago, the world was riveted by the massive crowds of youths mobilizing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand an end to Egypt’s dreary police state. We stared in horror as, at one point, the Interior Ministry mobilized camel drivers to attack the demonstrators. We watched […]

Arab Spring

July 1: Juan’s new Book, “The New Arabs” hits the Shelves

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole For those of you who like “long reads,” my new book will be out next Tuesday. For those of you intending to buy it, let me suggest that you all purchase it on its publication date, July 1. The way the publishing metrics work, if you can get the book to a […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Yemeni anti-Al-Qaeda Campaign gains Popular Support but US Embassy forced to Close

Juan Cole

(By Robert Sharp) As Yemen enters the post-National Dialogue Conference period, theory and practice are colliding; the constitutional referendum will take place in June followed by hopefully credible presidential and parliamentary elections. The promise of a “new” Yemen will be debated formally through the ballot box and the people will decide the future leadership of […]

Drones

The True Costs of Remote Control Drone Wars

Juan Cole

(By Pratap Chatterjee via Tomdispatch) Enemies, innocent victims, and soldiers have always made up the three faces of war. With war growing more distant, with drones capable of performing on the battlefield while their “pilots” remain thousands of miles away, two of those faces have, however, faded into the background in recent years. Today, we […]

Bush

Top 10 Attacks on US Embassies in Republican Administrations that Lindsey Graham doesn’t Care about

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Republicans in Congress keep beating the dead horse of Benghazi. Now they have sprung a briefing memo for Susan Rice, based on CIA talking points. I shows that the briefing hewed to the CIA line of the time, which was that the Benghazi disturbances were copy cats of those in Cairo, […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

A War of another Kind: Joint US-Yemeni Strikes on al-Qaeda kill 68

Juan Cole

(via AFP) Dozens killed as Yemen, US mount air war on Qaeda (via AFP) An “unprecedented” US and Yemeni aerial campaign in Yemen killed at least 68 Al-Qaeda militants in a bid to head off attacks by the network’s local affiliate, officials said Monday. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been linked to a […]