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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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Many apologies for the delay in postings, other work has gotten in the way, but I promise to be better in the future. It has been an incredibly busy few […]
I almost never understand the media. For instance, at a time when the US is engaged in an excruciating and incredibly long war and is involved in military action in […]
In what can only be described as awkward timing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Yemen only a couple of weeks after amendments went to parliament that would allow President […]
Yemen is a confusing place and of all the opaque places within the country my vote for the most confusing is Abyan. Last week we talked about jihadi tensions that […]
Today, Saudi Arabia is out with a new wanted list of 47 men it believes have fled the kingdom and joined the jihad abroad. Many, according to this AFP report, […]
Hours after AQAP pulled off one ambush in Abyan, they were back at it, ambushing another convoy of soldiers this afternoon. This time they attacked a convoy (Ar) that included […]
At 10 am this morning, a group of al-Qaeda fighters shouting Allahu Akbar ambushed a convoy of military vehicles from the Central Security Forces, killing anywhere from 6 to 12 […]
Oh, those Pakistanis. First, they claim that a drone strike killed Fahd al-Qusa and then months later al-Qusa appears safe and sound on the front page of al-Sharq al-Awsat, where […]
One of the regular features of the old Waq al-waq was the day in papers, and as I slowly adjust to the new site I’m bringing it back. We start […]
Several weeks ago the editors at Foreign Policy asked me (and several other people, most of whom are much smarter than me) to participate in a survey on terrorism. The […]
Before 2010 fades even further into the distance, I wanted to bring you Waq al-waq’s first (and possibly only) best of list. That is, my pick for the two best […]
Everyone in Yemen is catching it. Early last week, seven ministers and two deputies resigned their posts so that they could compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for April. […]
We all know that Yemen has serious problems that are not limited to just AQAP. But there have also been a few bright spots in recent months. Topping the list […]
Today Charlie Savage of the New York Times, who does an excellent job making complicated legal stories understandable, has a piece on the latest bit of Guantanamo Bay news. According […]
Tis the season for lists, and Attorney General Eric Holder has one and Anwar al-Awlaki is on it. Speaking to ABC television, Holder said that al-Awlaki was on the same […]
I often miss things on Yemen here at Waq al-waq, and two of the articles I have missed in recent days have been by academics who study Yemen. (Full disclosure: […]
I have just finished a first reading of the three statements AQAP posted to jihadi forums earlier today. The one that is getting the most attention – not surprisingly – […]
Over the past few days I have exchanged a number of messages with a Yemeni friend about the upcoming London conference – I don’t have permission to post his comments, […]
Snow and a broken computer have gotten the week off to a slow start, but across the globe in Yemen things are picking up, even though you wouldn’t know it […]
No, no it is not Sada al-Malahim, but News Yemen writes about a new newspaper in Yemen, al-Hayat al-Yawm that devotes a significant portion of its first issue to al-Qaeda. […]