Al Qaeda

In recent months the international media has focused on the issue of Pakistan becoming a failed state soon. A top US counter terrorism expert David Kilcullen who advised David Petreaus in Iraq on counter terrorism strategy has opined that Pakistan may fail within six months. Concerns about stability in Pakistan became more acute when Taliban began their advance out of Swat towards Punjab earlier this year. The media highlighted the fragility of Pakistan by pointing out that the Taliban had come within 100 miles of Islamabad.

• Arvind Gupta
• June 16, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Yemen has witnessed a number of al Qaeda-led activities in recent weeks. A suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in the city of Shibam in Hadramaut province on March 15, 2009. Three days later, al Qaeda attempted an attack on the convoy of the South Korean official delegation that was investigating these killings. These are the latest in a series of attacks on foreigners and foreign-run establishments in the country.

• Prasanta Kumar Pradhan
• April 15, 2009
• IDSA Comments

There seems to be a consensus worldwide among the members of the strategic and academic community that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has been the greatest danger… Continue reading Global Security Environment: Challenges and Prospects

• Arvind Kumar
• January-March 2009
• CBW Magazine

• Vishal Chandra
• November 2008
• Strategic Analysis

The recent American plan to transfer control of the Awakening Movement’s tribal militias to the Iraqi Army is fraught with risk for the future of Iraq. The improved security situation in Iraq has been attained by maintaining a precarious balance between several countervailing forces. Care has been taken to isolate radical Shia movements like Muqtada al-Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi and prevent it from having any share of power in the Shia-majority government led by Nouri al-Maliki.

• Shelly Johny
• September 12, 2008
• IDSA Comments

Terrorism is both a subjective and a pejorative term. This being so, difficulties emerge in attempting to find a definition of terrorism that can be classified as universal. The key… Continue reading The Growing Threat of WMD Terrorism

• Harsh V. Pant
• July - September 2008
• CBW Magazine

On June 2, terrorists exploded a car-bomb outside the Embassy of Denmark in the high-security diplomatic area of Islamabad. The explosion instantaneously killed eight people, injured more than twenty five and damaged properties in the vicinity. People killed in the attack were mainly Pakistanis, including the local staff at the embassy and a Danish citizen of Pakistani origin. It is not clear how an explosive-laden car was able to enter such a highly-guarded area without detection.

• Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay
• June 09, 2008
• IDSA Comments

Even terrorists play pranks on WMD use these days! Late May 2008 a purported terrorist video caught media attention and some serious coverage. As per the reports, the Al Qaeda… Continue reading Is Bioterrorism Threat Credible?

• Animesh Roul
• April - June 2008
• CBW Magazine

The book “Bioterrorism and Combating Strategies-Select Readings is an edited volume by Anila V Menon. As the very title suggests, this book basically deals with various aspects of bioterrorism and… Continue reading Bioterrorism and Combating Strategies-Select Readings, Editor: Anila V Menon, Amicus Book, the Icfai University Press (2007)

• Pranamita Baruah
• CBW Magazine

On April 19, 2007, the provincial Chinese court in Xinjiang sentenced Huseyin Celil, a Uyghur, to life imprisonment for taking part in "terrorist activities" and "plotting to split the country". The verdict of the People's Court of Urumchi states that Huseyin Celil will be deprived of his "political rights for life". This verdict has once again incensed human rights activists, who have begun a debate on Chinese intentions towards Uyghurs and Beijing's currently imprecise reportage on terrorism in Xinjiang.

• Jagannath P. Panda
• May 11, 2007
• IDSA Comments