Publications on Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict

One year after the uprisings known as the “Arab spring” erupted, this collection of fifteen articles explores what is evident thus far as to the regional and international ramifications of the upheavals, with special reference to the potential ramifications for Israeli national security. Among the questions addressed: Why did the upheavals occur now, and what do they portend for the future? How have the major powers and certain Arab states, ostensibly spared the turmoil, responded to the events? Where do Iran and Turkey...

Since the rise of the ayatollah regime in Iran in 1979 and its role in the establishment of Hizbollah in Lebanon in 1982, the two – in the context of their patron-protégé relationship – have used terrorism as a tool in their struggles with enemies at home and abroad. Since the terrorist attacks in the United States, and in light of many states’ reduced tolerance for terrorism exported from their sovereign territories, the Iranian regime reined in its terrorist acts and those of its protégé on the international arena. However, the...

This essay focuses on an analysis of the factors that are likely to make terrorist organizations use cyber tools to perpetrate attacks on critical infrastructures of sovereign institutions and symbols, commercial and industrial infrastructures and systems, and public civilian targets. In addition, it examines the question of whether the threat is actual and imminent, or whether it is a far-fetched possibility that surfaces from time to time in the general discourse on the subject.

It was recently reported that Egyptian authorities have arrested five people, including Mohammed Eid Musleh Hamad, the leader of al-Mujahideen al-Takhfirim. Hamad’s organization was established in early 2011, following the Tahrir Square demonstrations that led to the toppling of President Husni Mubarak. A further result of the uprising was the dismantling of Egypt’s powerful internal security mechanisms, which had been responsible for the brutal as well as effective suppression of activity by Islamic organizations in Egypt....

This essay analyzes the factors behind Afghanistan’s instability and argues that understanding them can explain the political and military difficulty in destroying irregular forces that share a strong ideology and operate in a given geographical arena. The essay claims that understanding the area politically, socially, and demographically allows for the formulation of a strategy and varied modi operandi for defeating the guerrilla forces.

A rational analysis of the agreement signed between Israel and Hamas for the release of Gilad Shalit is best conducted far from the abundant rhetoric, touching photographs, and strong emotions that accompanied the extensive journalistic coverage of the event. In the course of this media event, platitudes and clichés of questionable accuracy were bandied about relentlessly.

The forthcoming tenth anniversary of the terror attacks in the United States will presumably be a cause for celebration for al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the international jihad movement. We can expect them to mark the date with propaganda and self-adulation in order to express what they see as their great victory over the United States superpower, which they deem an occupying coalition that suppresses and humiliates the Muslim world, of which they are authentic representatives.

Last week’s attack on the gas pipeline in the El-Arish area in northern Sinai was the fifth attack on the pipeline in the past six months. According to reports in the Egyptian press, four armed masked men infiltrated the gas terminal, blew it up, and escaped without disclosing their identities. The explosion caused serious damage to the pipeline, even more extensive than the damage caused in the attack of the previous week.

United States policy on targeted killings in the war on terror made headlines with the May 2011 raid by the Navy SEALs in the heart of Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. The SEALs were previously involved in commando actions of this type against other senior al-Qaeda figures. In September 2009, a SEALs team killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an al-Qaeda commander in Somalia, in a land operation that was carried out in Somalia. Nabhan was the partner of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who was killed two weeks ago by Somali...

The killing of Osama Bin Laden by American Navy SEALs forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan in early May represents a new peak in the ongoing tension between the United States and Pakistan regarding the issue of combating terror in general, and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas within Pakistan’s sovereign territory in particular. Nevertheless, at this stage, the two sides are avoiding an irreparable divide based on their clear mutual interests: Pakistan needs the economic support of the United States and aims to prevent...

Since the assassination of Osama bin Laden, experts in intelligence, academia, and the media have labored to understand the operation’s practical implications, both short term and for the more distant future. Although the global jihad movement comprises various components, without a doubt the element that dominates and sets the tone is the al-Qaeda organization. In contrast to its affiliates, in recent years a great deal of information has been received on al-Qaeda, including authentic documents on the organization’s...