al Qaeda and affiliates

Chatting with the Chief: A Conversation with General James C. McConville

General James C. McConville is the 40th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, filling a critical position for our nation once occupied by individuals such as General John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Omar Bradley. A West Point graduate, soldier, leader, and aviator, General McConville has commanded the famous 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and led in combat including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, as Army Chief of Staff, his job is to ensure our soldiers have the training and equipment they need to accomplish their missions and return home safely. In this position, he’s also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, helping to advise some of our nation’s senior civilian leaders on vital national security decisions.
General McConville sat down with Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), filling in for host Cliff May — just days after the one-year anniversary of Putin’s unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine and amidst reports of Beijing considering the provision of lethal aid to Moscow for use against Ukrainians.
Bradley and General McConville discuss the war in Ukraine and what's at stake for Americans, how to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, the nature of the threat from China, and what the Army is doing to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Bradley also asks him for an update on the Army’s ongoing modernization efforts — the most significant the service has conducted in four decades and one that will determine whether Americans can prevail on future battlefields.

Michael Gordon’s Wars

Host Cliff May says Wall Street Journal‘s Michael Gordon is, “without a doubt, one of the best reporters I’ve ever known — and I’ve known many reporters over many years.”
Decades ago, they sat in the same bullpen at The New York Times’ Washington bureau, where Cliff says Michael, “covered defense, national security, and international affairs better than anyone else in town.”
Michael has reported on numerous conflicts, both from inside Washington where the decisions are made and from the battlegrounds where the blood is spilled.
He has served as a Times bureau chief in Moscow, and as a roving correspondent based in London. He’s currently a national security correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.
A few years ago, he was Writer-in-Residence at FDD where he worked on his most recent book: Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, From Barack Obama to Donald Trump.In this episode, Michael joins Cliff for a discussion on America’s fight against the Islamic State.

After the Fall: Lessons Learned and Unlearned in Afghanistan

One year ago, the U.S. military, under orders from the White House, allowed the Taliban to re-take control of Afghanistan.
The withdrawal was poorly planned. The evacuation of Americans and American allies was chaotic and, for some — including 13 American service members — fatal.
One year later, what’s the status of Afghanistan? What’s the status of the Taliban’s ally, al Qaeda? What lessons have we learned? What lessons have we not learned?
Joining host Cliff May to discuss: LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster, former White House National Security Advisor who now serves as Chairman of the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP); Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD's CMPP; and Bill Roggio, FDD senior fellow and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal.
 

The Life and Death of Emir al Zawahiri

Ayman al Zawahiri, emir of Al Qaeda, is no more. He was reportedly on the balcony of what he thought was a “safe house” in one of Kabul’s more upscale neighborhoods when two missiles fired by the CIA from a Hellfire drone ended his life — almost 21 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and almost one year after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and capitulation to the Taliban.
To discuss Zawahiri's career and killing and what's next for Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan, and the global jihad, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD senior fellow and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal Bill Roggio and senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) Bradley Bowman.
 

Why They Fight

Russia's war in Ukraine underscores, among other things, the urgency of boosting Taiwan's military readiness. Meanwhile, many Americans remain bitterly divided on what role of the U.S. should be in the world, and, therefore, on how strong America's military power ought to be.
To discuss these and other pressing issues facing the U.S. and broader free world, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by experts from FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) — LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Bradley Bowman.
LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster formerly served as the U.S. National Security Advisor and was a commissioned officer in the United States Army for 34 years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He's a historian, an author, and a pundit. He now serves as the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution — and he also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).
Bradley Bowman is a West Point Graduate, who served as an active-duty U.S. Army officer, Black Hawk pilot, and top advisor to two U.S. Senators. He is also now with FDD's Center on Military and Political Power where he serves as the Center's Senior Director.

Why America Can’t Be Denmark

Can there be anyone not shocked and appalled by Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine – a war intended to extinguish Ukraine as an independent nation; a war in which it appears that war crimes are not just being tolerated by the Kremlin but actively encouraged; a war intended to establish that the only laws that apply in the world today are those of the jungle?
The answer: yes. Such people prefer to call themselves ‘realists’, or ‘restrainers’, or ‘re-trenchers’, or ‘anti-interventionists’ or people who just want to prioritize “nation-building at home!”
Objectively, one might call them isolationists. And they can be found on both the left and the right of the political spectrum.
To discuss, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD senior fellow Aaron MacLean.
Aaron served as a U.S. Marine for seven years with two tours in Afghanistan. He later taught at the U.S. Naval Academy, where in 2013 he received the Apgar Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Aaron received a B.A. in philosophy and the history of math and science from St. John’s College, Annapolis, and an M.Phil. in medieval Arabic thought from Oxford. He has been a Boren Scholar and a Marshall Scholar.
And he served as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
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Mike Waltz: Warrior Diplomat and Congressman

Michael G. Waltz served as a Green Beret in the Middle East and Africa, and commanded a Special Forces company in the mountains of Afghanistan.
He served as a counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, and director for Afghanistan policy in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
He is the author of a marvelous 2014 book: Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan, the proceeds of which continue to benefit the Green Beret Foundation.
He was also – we’re proud to say – a non-resident senior fellow at FDD years ago.
He now serves in Congress, where he’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He continues to serve in the National Guard.
He joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to talk about a range of critical national security and foreign policy issues.

The Predators Threatening Africa

Africa is a large and diverse continent. Many different peoples, ethnic groups, tribes — these terms overlap but are not synonymous — speaking more than a thousand languages, organized into more than 50 nation-states.
Most of those nation-states achieved independence in the aftermath of World War II, as European imperialism and colonialism died out. In few African lands has political stability and prosperity followed.
And today, Africa is threatened by new predators. Violent and vicious jihadists are kidnapping, killing, and committing a long list of other crimes. Africa also is threatened by what I’m going to call neo-imperialism — not the European variety.
Joining host Cliff May to discuss these issues is Dr. J. Peter Pham, who was the first-ever United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa.
Before that, Ambassador Pham served as U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa. He’s also been a denizen of think tanks. Currently he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, but his first DC think tank affiliation was an Adjunct Senior Fellow at FDD.
In addition, he was a tenured Associate Professor of justice studies, political science, and Africana studies at James Madison University, and Director of the school’s Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs.
Ambassador Pham is the author of more than 300 essays and reviews and the author, editor, or translator of over a dozen books, primarily on African history, politics, and economics.

The Middle East Muddle

Here’s a riddle for you: Name something Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden have in common? Here's one answer: None has appeared to understand the theological premises that motivate such groups as al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic State — nor those that drive the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Nor have they had clarity about the thinking of those brave Muslims who oppose such interpretations of Islam.
In this episode, host Cliff May discusses these and related issues with three eminent scholars.
Gilles Kepel has authored more than twenty academic books on contemporary Islam, the Arab World and Muslims in Europe, translated into numerous languages. A tenured Professor at Paris Sciences et Lettres University, his last essay, The Prophet and the Pandemic / From the Middle East to Atmospheric Jihadism, just released in French, has topped the best-seller lists and is currently being translated into English and a half-dozen languages. The excerpt: The Murder of Samuel Paty, is in the spring issue of Liberties Journal.
Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. His research focuses on the “political and social tensions that arise from questions about religious identity and authority” with a particular emphasis on Islam, history and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. His books include Saudi Arabia in Transition and Revival and Reform in Islam.
And Reuel Marc Gerecht, a disciple of the late, great Bernard Lewis, is a former Middle Eastern specialist at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, and currently a senior fellow at FDD.

The Thin Red Line: Joby Warrick on the U.S. Response to this Century’s Worst War Crimes

Joby Warrick is a distinguished journalist, a longtime Washington Post national security reporter, and a Pulitzer Prize-winner. His latest book is: “Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World.”
To discuss Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons to mass murder his fellow Syrians, and what the U.S. did – and did not – do about it, he joins David Adesnik, FDD’s Director of Research and senior fellow on Syria, and FDDs president and Foreign Podicy host Cliff May.

Predators in the Global Jungle

David Kilcullen is an Australian-American soldier and scholar who served as a top advisor to the U.S. military in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
He also has worked in Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia.
And he’s an advisor to FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).
His new book, The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West, looks at the military threats facing America and its allies, including what the dragons — Moscow and Beijing — and the snakes — Tehran, Pyongyang, and non-state jihadi groups – are learning from each other. He suggests the options that need to be considered if free nations are “to evolve and survive the long twilight struggle ahead.”
He discusses these and related national security issues with host Cliff May on episode 54.

The Rise and Incomplete Fall of the Islamic State

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — five years ago proclaimed the caliph of the Islamic State — has been eliminated by American Special Operators in Syria, underscoring both the importance of having boots on Syrian ground and the benefits of partnering with Kurdish-led forces.
In this episode of Foreign Podicy, FDD founder and president Clifford D. May offers thoughts on this development. Then, in a conversation recorded prior to the death of ‘Big Baghdadi’, Cliff discusses the Islamic State in a broader context with Seth Frantzman, author of After ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East, based on four years of on-the-ground reporting from ten countries in the region,  and John Hannah, senior counselor at FDD and former national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Syria‘s Sorrow and Pity

Over recent days, Syrian and Russian forces continued their bombing campaign against civilians in Syria's Idlib province — this time conducting airstrikes on a market, killing dozens.
Other examples of the Assad regime's assault on the Syrian people include the recent targeting of the hospitals that treat injured survivors. Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are aiding and abetting this barbarism. Also underway: efforts by Iran’s rulers to colonize Syria. The so-called international community is mostly turning a blind eye and, in some cases, actually facilitating the continuing carnage, occupation and population displacements.
To better understand who is committing these war crimes and why, host Clifford D. May is joined by Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force; and David Adesnik, FDD’s director of research.

Future Wars: a Conversation with H.R. McMaster

H.R. McMaster served as a U.S. Army officer for thirty-four years—including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan—before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He then served as White House national security advisor. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, he also chairs the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.
He joins host Cliff May for a discussion about national security during a challenging and dangerous time—a time when the U.S. is threatened by a motley crew of rivals, adversaries and sworn enemies.

The Uses of Military Power

The United States has the most powerful military in world history. But after 17 years fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, an American victory is nowhere in sight.
With that and many other threats and challenges in mind, FDD has opened a new Center on Military and Political Power.
CMPP will attempt to promote—on a bipartisan basis—better understanding of the defense strategies, policies and capabilities that can most effectively deter adversaries, and defeat those who cannot be deterred.
CMPP’s board of directors is a veritable ‘who’s who’ of leading national security thinkers—including former White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster (who serves as CMPP chairman) and former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta.
Bradley Bowman, CMPP’s senior director, served as an active-duty U.S. Army officer for more than 15 years, taught as an Assistant Professor at West Point, and most recently worked as a National Security Advisor to members of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees.
He joins host Clifford D. May today to discuss America’s military challenges and how CMPP plans to add value to the urgent debates underway—as well as the urgent debates that need to begin.

In Afghanistan, the Substitute for Victory is Defeat

America’s conflict with the Taliban in Afghanistan, now well into its second decade, is not going well. The U.S. military has called it a “stalemate.” During his farewell speech in early September, General John W. Nicholson Jr., who first oversaw the military effort for President Trump, said: “It is time for this war in Afghanistan to end.” But most wars don’t end – they are won or they are lost.
Has America lost this fight against a jihadi group closely aligned with al Qaeda?
If so, what are the consequences?
To answer these and related questions, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Tom Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and senior editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, and Bill Roggio, also a senior fellow at FDD and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal.
 
 
 
 

Islamism and Jihadism: The view of one Muslim — and former CIA analyst

Yaya Fanusie is the director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF). He spent seven years as both an economic and counterterrorism analyst in the CIA, where he regularly briefed White House policy makers, U.S. military personnel, and federal law enforcement. In 2009, he spent three months in Afghanistan providing analytic support to senior military officials.
He joins FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May for a discussion of the Long War, terrorism, ideology, religion and other issues.
Episode resources:What it’s like to be a Muslim in the CIA — Yaya J. Fanusie; VoxHow to Neutralize the Violent Jihadist Pull — Yaya J. Fanusie; Muslim MattersAnwar Al-Awlaki’s American Journey — Clifford D. May; Scripps Howard News Service
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), host of FDD's Foreign Podicy, and the foreign desk columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on twitter @CliffordDMay. Yaya J. Fanusie is the director of analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF). Follow him on Twitter @signcurve and follow CSIF @FDD_CSIF.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD, and follow Foreign Podicy @Foreign_Podicy.

Extremism and Fragile States

If the attacks of September 11, 2001 were a second Pearl Harbor, where are we in the war that began on that day? Are we winning, losing or stalemated? Last year there were more than 10,000 terrorist attacks worldwide—about five times the number in 2001. So what have we learned—or, more importantly—what do we still need to learn? Are there policies and strategies that ought to be put in place?
Today, on the 17th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in America's history, U.S. Institute for Peace has released a new report on “protecting America from extremism in fragile states.” To discuss its analysis and recommendations, FDD president and Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May is joined by Stephen Hadley, former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, and now the chair of the U.S. Institute for Peace—a congressionally founded and funded policy institute; Nancy Lindborg, president of the U.S.I.P.; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at FDD and a former Middle East specialist in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations.
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), host of FDD's Foreign Podicy, and the foreign desk columnist for the Washington Times. Follow him on twitter @CliffordDMay.
FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD, and follow Foreign Podicy @Foreign_Podicy.

Syria‘s World War

Syria has been at war for seven long years. More than a half million people have been killed. More than 11 million – close to half Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced either internally or as refugees in other countries. 
But Syrians are not the only ones involved in this fight.  The Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah – the Iranian regime’s foreign legion – and Russia have helped keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power. Israel, Turkey and the U.S. also have been playing significant roles.
To discuss the conflict in Syria, where it is heading, what U.S. policy is and where it should be, host Clifford D. May is joined by FDD’s senior counselor John Hannah and director of research David Adesnik.

Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran’s March Across the Middle East

Lebanon and Iraq both recently held elections, which is good news – or is it? Hezbollah, Iran's terrorist foreign legion, is now more firmly in control of Lebanon than ever before. Meanwhile, Iraq still faces many perils, not least from the Islamic Republic of Iran as it pursues its imperialist ambitions in the region.
In episode 14 of Foreign Podicy, host Clifford D. May discusses these developments with Tony Badran, an FDD research fellow born and raised in Lebanon who focuses on the Levant, and Zalmay Khalilzad, born and raised in Afghanistan who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the UN.
Episode resources:
After an Iranian Missile Attack on the Golan Heights, Israel Strikes Syria – Tony Badran, Tablet Magazine
Where Iran’s terrorist representative is the big winner– Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer, The Washington Times
Hezbollah and its Allies Win more than Half the Seats in Lebanon’s Parliament– Romany Shaker, FDD Policy Brief
Our Incoherent Lebanon Policy–  Tony Badran, Tablet Magazine
Lebanon’s New Army Chief has History of Coordination with Hezbollah  – Tony Badran, FDD Policy Brief

Africa’s Jihadist Frontiers

Jihadists in Africa are not just spreading. They’re also learning and innovating.  Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have spawned such groups as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab south of the Sahara, in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and beyond. A new FDD study shows that the number of jihadist attacks against Western interests in Africa has nearly tripled since the so-called 2011 Arab Spring. Yet, we hear little about these groups and their acts of terrorism in the mainstream media.
Foreign Podicy host, Cliff May, is joined by FDD Senior Fellow Daveed Gartenstein-Ross to discuss these evolving threats and what can be done now to stop – or at least slow – them.
Show resources:
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/gartenstein-ross-daveed-evolving-terror-the-development-of-jihadist-operations-targeting-western-in/
https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/spike-african-terrorism-highlights-importance-jihadist-innovation

Osama bin Laden‘s Terrorist Treasure Trove

Cliff May is joined by Bill Roggio and Thomas Joscelyn of FDD’s Long War Journal to discuss their exclusive look into the Osama bin Laden documents, and how their findings could impact the future of counterterrorism strategy and policy.