Terrorism
ASP in the News | May 7-9
The Washington Post (05/08) features Peter Bergen savaging Morgan Spurlock's new documentary.
Wired Magazine (05/07) quotes Jeffrey Lewis on the dynamics of space warfare
The Orion (05/07) cites Afshin Molavi on the pressures within Iranian culture
ASP in the News | May 5-7
Pacific Daily News (05/07) analyzes Parag Khanna's hypothesis of the decline of U.S. hegemony.
US News (05/06) quotes
AFP (05/06) cites Steve Clemons discussing the negative impact of Clinton's comments on Iran.
Hard News (05/06) discusses Peter Bergen's research on the link between education and terrorist recruitment.
The People's Daily (04/25) quotes Steve Clemons arguing against a boycott of the Beijing Games.
American Strategy in the News | April 18 - 21
Book TV (4/21) interviews Steve Coll about his new book, The Bin Ladens.
The Washington Post (4/20) asks Flynt Leverett's opinion of UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
The Moderate Voice (4/19) quotes Daniel Levy on Israeli roadblocks as an obstacle to peace.
The Telegraph (4/19) reviews Parag Khanna's new book, The Second World.
The New Republic (4/18) follows Stephen Clemmons debate on the US response to the Beijing Olympics.
The Daily Yomiuri (04/17) features Steve Clemons analyzing Hillary’s Beijing boycott call.
PBS (4/17) speaks with Afshin Molavi about Iran's contemporary politics and culture.
Steve Coll on The Daily Show
New America President Steve Coll was a guest on The Daily Show last night to discuss his new book, The Bin Ladens. Video of his clip can be viewed below:
Osama bin Laden is Planning Something for the U.S. Election
The term "October surprise" used to refer to an international event that caused a major turn in a U.S. presidential campaign. Steve Coll, New America's president and CEO, thinks that this year's October surprise may be from Osama bin Laden, perhaps at home. Der Spiegel interviews Coll on this and other insights into Osama bin Laden and his large family from his new book, The Bin Ladens.
'Osama bin Laden is Planning Something for the US Election'
Der Spiegel | April 2, 2008
US author Steve Coll spent years looking into Osama bin Laden's family. Now, his new book provides a unique insight into the clan. SPIEGEL spoke with him about where the terrorist might be hiding, how his father got his start, and the unique romantic liasons pursued by one of his brothers.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Coll, Osama bin Laden recently broke a long silence. He threatened Europe and called for the "liberation" of the Gaza Strip. How seriously should we take these missives? Do they tell us anything about him or about where he might be?
Like the Wild West, Plus al-Qaeda
Is it possible that Iraq is still sucking up all the best intelligence and counter-insurgency assets of the U.S. Government and leaving only the scraps to deal with the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan? New America Fellow Nick Schmidle, whose New York Times Magazine cover story got him and his wife expelled from Pakistan by the Musharraf government, looks at the state of play in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas in this piece in Sunday's Washington Post. With unmanned Predator strikes killing civilians and senior military advisors trying to replicate Iraq's Anbar Awakening, the answer seems clear.
I Was Kidnapped by the CIA
"A little before noon on February 17, 2003, Abu Omar was headed to his mosque....'Suddenly I was lifted in the air,' he recalled. He was dragged into a white van and beaten, he said...And so began Abu Omar's descent into one of the 21st century's nastier circles of hell..."
The story of the extraordinary rendition of Abu Omar from the streets of Milan and the ongoing Italian criminal proceedings against the 26 alleged CIA employees involved has opened a window into the inner workings of the Bush administration's global war on terror. Published today in Mother Jones, the article is by New America Schwartz Senior Fellow and CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen, with assistance from New America program associate Katherine Tiedemann.
Click here for the New America Foundation report, "Extraordinary Renditions: A Look at the Data"
Hamas not al-Qaeda, not Controlled by Tehran, says ex-Mossad Chief
The Bush administration categorizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. President Bush wants an Israeli-Palestinian deal inked by the time he leaves office. Something has to give.
Daniel Levy, director of the New America Foundation's Middle East Policy Initiative, says former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy's recent interview with Laura Rozen indicates that at least some influential Israelis are willing to start cracking the door to Hamas, starting with popping the myth that the movement is equivalent to al-Qaeda or controlled by Tehran.
