Oxford Research Group - Books and in-depth reports - The Tipping Point?
The global economic downturn is the biggest single threat to security across the world. On present trends many hundreds of millions of people among the poorest communities across the world will suffer most. This is likely to lead to the rise of radical and [...]

A re-post (as opposed to original content) would normally go in the “Homeland Blogwatch” section of Security Debrief. However, this interview by New Yorker Pulitzer-winning journalist George Packer with top counter-terrorism strategist David Kilcullen is so insightful we decided to place it in our main content section. If you want to understand the way forward in Afghanistan (and Pakistan and Iraq), read this article.

CSIS Reports - Islamic Radical Ideologies and South Asian Security - Center for Strategic and International Studies
Sunni Muslim radicals, a violent and vocal minority, are responsible for the largest number of violent terrorist incidents in the world today. This trend is expected to continue for at least the next decade. South Asia, which is [...]

In Homeland Security: Women Jihadists Suicide Bombers are Increasing in Numbers
Muslim extremist women are coming forward in increasing numbers to become female jihadists. In the May 31, 2008, Associated Press article Women Fight for Right to Join Al Qaeda, Muslim women are challenging the Islamic gender conflict by Al Qaeda and its offshoot group’s refusal [...]

I would place Coll’s book along side Lawrence Wright’s “The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11″ as indispensable books for anybody wishing to understand what led to al Qaeda’s murderous attack on the United States in 2001. (Not to mention the 1993 forerunner attack on the World Trade Center, the 1996 Khobar Tower bombing and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.)

“The Closing of the American Border” is a superb text for policy makers who must wrestle with the challenges of border security and immigration policy.

Taliban have not split from al Qaeda: sources - The Long War Journal
The Taliban have not broken ranks with al Qaeda, senior US military and intelligence sources told The Long War Journal. The idea that the Taliban has severed relations is promoted by European countries who wish to back out of Afghanistan after years of [...]

Anybody who wants to understand the dangers we face in the coming years (possibly months) with regard to militant Islamist threats should read this column by Sumit Ganguly.

Nobody has forgotten 9/11. And yet. And yet, many have put it behind them, and not in a good way. Seven years after the tragedy of that day, it is good that the American public has moved beyond the visceral anguish we all experienced in the immediate aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s declaration - and execution - of war on America. But many have not simply moved on; they have returned to a September 10 mindset. And part of the blame for this complacent mindset must directed at the man who will be our nation’s next leader.

For years, leading U.S. counterterrorism experts possessed evidence that al-Qaeda was recruiting, training and positioning operatives for attacks on the West. Their targets included North American and European citizens with passports that allow unrestrained travel to the U.S. without the potential of attracting the kind of attention other travelers would.

Counterterrorism Blog: Ten Questions about al Qaeda and its Jihadi nebulous
Based on my more comprehensive analysis covered by my last three books, the points addressed the essence of the conflict with the Jihadists, the accuracy of identification of the ideology and the movement, and the strategic reasons for dissidence within the Jihadi realm. These remarks [...]

Homeland Security Today - news and analysis - 2008 Homeland Security Report Card
The year in review: A year that saw significant successes against terrorism in Europe but also increased Al Qaeda activity in Algeria, North Africa and Afghanistan. Cancellation of the Dakar-to-Lisbon auto race was an Al Qaeda success in this regard. Increased media activity [...]

Homeland Security Watch » UN Counter-Terrorism Study Updates Al-Qaeda Threat
According to a new report by the Coordinator of the Al- Qaeda/ Taliban Monitoring Team of the United Nations Security Council, al- Qaeda is enduring a difficult period of weakness. They would be vanquished, in fact, if it were not for the one geographical area where [...]

Douglas Farah: A Hidden Grain of Truth that Should Resonate
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting feature on the late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyah and his rather mysterious death on Feb. 12 in Damascus.
Mughniyah, of course, was one of the true pioneers in the use of terrorist tactics by radical Islamists against the West. Among [...]