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Washington Seminar – August 2023

On 2 August 2023, the NESA Center for Strategic Studies held a Washington Seminar Discussion in Washington, D.C. The seminar presented a conversation between Associate Professor Daniel Curfiss and Dr. Hassan Abbas. The afternoon ended with a question-and-answer session with 17 attendees from 12 countries. The talk and conversations during question-and-answer revolved around the Taliban Read More >

Afghanistan’s Changing Dynamics of Peace and Conflict

Ali Jalali, NESA Center, discusses four issue sets that define the security environment in Afghanistan. Regional and non-regional actors hold influence in Afghan politics, the economy is in fluctuation, and internal security remains a challenge. The remarks of Jalali, the former Afghan Minister of Interior, elucidate the situation in Afghanistan right now. The views presented Read More >

Algeria: Between Democracy and Jihad – Professor Hussein Solomon

Algeria’s 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has certainly lived a charmed life. He has been in politics since the dawn of his country’s independence and has suffered setbacks from which he has recovered. Serving as Algeria’s president for 20 years, he watched whilst the Arab Spring unfolded in the region. Read more: https://bit.ly/2HyjVV0

The particular role of religion in Islamic State

Religion, specifically Islam, is central to the identity of Islamic State (IS). It was on the basis of religious doctrine that IS separated from Al Qaeda. It is on the basis of his belonging to the same tribe as the Prophet Muhammed that Al-Baghdadi has legitimised his claims of leadership of the Muslim ummah. Moreover Read More >

An Opening For Al-Qaeda

Since the Islamic State (IS) made its dramatic military advance in Iraq more than a year ago—capturing Mosul and other key cities and declaring the caliphate’s re-establishment—analysts have been near-unanimous that the group’s emergence has devastated its parent organization, al-Qaeda. Indeed, IS has undermined al-Qaeda’s once-unrivaled position as the standard-bearer of the jihadist movement, outstripping al-Qaeda’s public Read More >

The Rise of Islamism in Africa

When Hassan al-Turabi, Africa’s leading proponent of political Islam and the man who hosted Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders in Sudan in the 1990s, expresses concern regarding the rise of militant Islam in Africa, the world better pay attention. Interviewed by Yaroslav Trofimov of the Wall Street Journal, Hassan al-Turabi noted that Read More >