Análisis CFR Backgrounders, 16.06.2015Introduction The militant Islamist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in January 2009 through a union of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaeda. Jihadist antecedents in the region date to the early 1990s, when thousands of mujahadeen returned to Yemen after fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. Analysts rate the Yemen-based...
El ‘califato del terror’ cumple un año
Reportaje El Confidencial, 28.06.2015 Daniel Iriarte, corresponsal en EstambulEl Estado Islámico cumple un año mañana, tiempo suficiente para entender cuáles son sus objetivos, cuáles sus puntos débiles y para preparar una estrategia de choque Fanáticos. Genios de la propaganda. Terroristas peligrosos. Administradores eficientes. Asesinos crueles. Insurgentes de probada capacidad militar. El Estado Islámico es un fenómeno con tantas dimensiones que...
Who Lost Iraq?
Entrevista a funcionarios y académicos estadounidenses Politico Magazine, julio/agosto 2015 Michael CrowleyDid George W. Bush create the Islamic State? Did Barack Obama? We asked the insiders to tell us who’s to blame. For a brief, happy—and misguided—moment, most Americans stopped thinking about Iraq. After withdrawing the last U.S. troops in 2011, President Barack Obama declared the country “sovereign,...
The Jihadist Trap of Here and Now
Opinión Security Weekly, 25.06.2015 Scott StewartIn recent weeks, I have found myself spending a lot of time thinking about the jihadist strategy of al Qaeda and how it compares to that of the Islamic State. Earlier this month, I wrote about the possibility that the al Qaeda brand of jihadism could outlast that of the Islamic State. Last...
A Net Assessment on the Middle East
Análisis Geopolitical Weekly, 09.06.2015 George Friedman, fundador y presidente Stratfor Global IntelligenceThe term "Middle East" has become enormously elastic. The name originated with the British Foreign Office in the 19th century. The British divided the region into the Near East, the area closest to the United Kingdom and most of North Africa; the Far East, which was...
The Secret History of SEAL Team 6: Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines
Reportaje The New York Times,06.06.2015 Mark Mazzetti, Nicholas Kulish, Christopher Drew, Serge F. Kovaleski, Sean D. Naylor y John IsmayThe unit best known for killing Osama bin Laden has been converted into a global manhunting machine with limited outside oversight. They have plotted deadly missions from secret bases in the badlands of Somalia. In Afghanistan,...