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Gregory Johnsen
Near East Studies Scholar, Princeton University
Gregory Johnsen, a former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Johnsen has written for a variety of publications on Yemen including, among others, Foreign Policy, The American Interest, The Independent, The Boston Globe, and The National. He is the co-founder of Waq al-Waq: Islam and Insurgency in Yemen Blog. In 2009, he was a member of the USAID's conflict assessment team for Yemen.
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Over the weekend the NY Times’ Scott Shane had this piece on Yemeni detainee, Alla Ahmad, and the difficulties in closing Guantanamo as President Obama pledged. The article is, in […]
Waq al-waq formally announces 2010 as the year of the motorbike assassination in Yemen. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Today, a security official in Hadramawt (Sayyun, for those wanting details) […]
AQAP has a statement out that is claiming responsibility for the ambush that killed five in Hadramawt on Monday. The group is calling itself the AbdullahBatis Squadron, which is a […]
Oh, I love this quote by an unnamed (Is there any other kind?) Saudi adviser:“The orders are not to go physically into Yemeni territory,” he said. “We don’t want to […]
Al-Arabiyya has two programs on Yemen. The first from the station’s Panorama program takes a look at the alleged Iranian support for the Huthis – claims that the US is […]
I saw this story in Arabic yesterday, and today the BBC has it, saying that Jabir al-Fayfi the surrendered or captured al-Qaeda member (either way he is in Saudi custody) […]
The Ministry of the Interior has announced that it has arrested six Somalis on suspicions of belonging to al-Qaeda. The story is a bit sparse on details, but much of […]
Earlier this morning I wrote that the Washington Post had gotten ‘Abdullah al-Midhar’s name wrong for what I called “reasons passing understanding.” Those reasons have now become clear to me, […]
For those with an interest, I will be a guest on al-Hurra today (5pm -6pm EST) along with some others talking about the war in Sa’dah.
The Washington Post follows the New York Times’ report last week on the potential for Yemenis in Guantanamo to head to Saudi with one of its own. Since there is […]
… on Tuesday when I return from traveling. In the meantime, I have added a great blog by Daniel Martin Varisco, an old Yemen hand, and all around great guy. […]
Mohammed al-Qadhi has a good piece detailing the latest kidnappings both in ‘Amran and in Sa’dah. He explains government accusations that the Huthis were behind both – a charge the […]
This is another wonderful piece from Mohammed al-Qadhi and a great companion piece to today’s article by Khaled al-Hammadi. This is just one of many reasons why the government is […]
We all know Yemen is in trouble: A resurgent al-Qaeda, a revolt in the north, increasingly violent actions in the south, no oil, no water, a growing youth bulge, declining […]
Well, if you are Ra’id al-Harbi, whose last will and testament was posted to jihadi forums over the weekend, you ride your camel nine hours across the border to Yemen. […]
Christopher Boucek at the Carnegie Endowment has released his long-awaited Yemen paper today. It is available in PDF here in both English and Arabic. I read a portion of the […]
Work has heated up with little time for blogging, so instead of actually taking the time to write a blog post on a rainy Saturday I thought it be would […]
Brian O’Neill of Always Judged Guilty has an op-ed on Yemen and the future – post AQAP strikes on the Huthis – in the National. You should read it.I have […]
I would also direct your attention to this piece by Mohammed al-Qadhi in the National on al-Iman University.I don’t think it is terribly difficult to get access to the university. […]
Check out Charles Schmitz, professor of Geography at Towson State and President of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies, on Democracy Now. Charles is a good friend and while we […]