List of Al Qaeda articles
-
The Taliban’s Broken Pledge to Contain Terrorists
A generation ago, the Taliban promised to prevent Osama bin Laden from targeting Americans—then came 9/11.
-
U.S. soldiers arrive at Saudi Arabia's Dhahran air base in 1991. Did Mohammed bin Salman Just Give Jihadis the World’s Greatest Terrorist Recruiting Tool?
Anger at the presence of U.S. troops on sacred Saudi soil led Osama bin Laden to found al Qaeda and wage jihad on the West. The crown prince’s decision to welcome them back could light the fuse again.
-
Hamza bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's son, is shown at his wedding in a video released by the CIA on Nov. 1, 2017. Like Terrorist Father, Like Terrorist Son
Hamza bin Laden was the son of al Qaeda’s founder—and the future leader that the terrorist group needed.
-
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walks toward a plane to depart Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on June 24. U.S. Intelligence Undercuts Trump’s Case on Iran-al Qaeda Links
Despite claims by Pompeo, Tehran and al Qaeda have been at odds more often than they've been aligned since 9/11.
-
A screen grab from a propaganda video released April 29 purportedly shows Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for the first time in five years at an undisclosed location. ‘Let’s Kill This Baby in the Crib’
That’s what the CIA said when it had Osama bin Laden in its sights after 9/11. Instead, America veered off into Iraq, and the result is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who appeared in a new video this week.
-
A discarded Islamic State flag lies torn on the ground in the village of Baghouz, Syria, on March 24. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images) ISIS’s West African Offshoot Is Following al Qaeda’s Rules for Success
The amorphous Boko Haram splinter group is taking inspiration where it can get it and bringing disaster to the Lake Chad Basin in the process.
-
A man prays at the burial of a friend on January 16, 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya after al-Shabab militants stormed the Dusit hotel complex. Al-Shabab Wants You To Know It’s Alive and Well
The brutal attack in Kenya is designed to show Washington and the world that the terrorist group is still a force to be reckoned with in East Africa.
-
U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province on July 7. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images) The United States Needs an Afghanistan Exit Strategy
Washington should hand over U.S. military and political roles to other countries, including China.
-
(Illustration by Matt Chase for Foreign Policy) The Future of War Will Be ‘Liked’
In the social media age, what you share is deciding what happens on the battlefield.
-
Yemeni mourners bury the bodies of Houthis killed in a car bomb attack which targeted a Shiite Muslim mosque in Sanaa during a group funeral procession in the Yemeni capital on July 22, 2015. America Is Not an Innocent Bystander in Yemen
Washington has left a vacuum in the Middle East, letting U.S. allies do as they please—no matter how high the body count.
-
Rescuers work among the rubble after the bombing U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya on Aug. 7, 1998. (AFP/Getty Images) The Bombings the World Forgot
On the podcast: Ambassador Prudence Bushnell survived the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. Now she tells her story.
-
(JM Lopez/AFP/Getty Images/iStockphoto/Foreign Policy illustration) Time for Peace Talks With ISIS and Al Qaeda?
With options limited for fighting terrorists, negotiations may be the best remaining alternative.
-
What can we learn from Bin Laden's diary? (Getty Images) Among the Memes and YouTube Videos, What Do the Bin Laden Files Hold?
The CIA recently released hundreds of thousands of files seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound. What can we learn from them?
-
AAAUSAF U.S. Bombs Falling in Record Numbers In Three Countries
Trump’s looser authorities for airstrikes have unleashed huge increases in ordnance in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
-
US President Donald Trump speaks during his address to the nation from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, on August 21, 2017. Trump warned Monday that the Afghan government should not view US support as a "blank check," in an address to the nation on the 16-year conflict. "America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress," Trump said. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy Could Actually Work
Critics might be surprised by its effectiveness.
