The Soufan Center

Foreign fighters in Syria remain a concern for policymakers both in Syria and across the world. During Syria’s brutal civil war, tens of thousands of individuals from the EU, the UK, Australia, North Africa, and Russian-speaking, Uyghur, Turkic, and other ethno-linguistic communities traveled to Syria to participate in the fight, whether with rebel groups, terrorist […] The post From “Moral Guidance” to Incorporation: Uyghur Assimilation in the Syrian Armed Forces appeared first on The Soufan Center.

Iran, Russia, and India have engaged in a dozen assassinations (or attempts) using criminal organizations in the last decade, demonstrating an evolution in state-sponsored political violence. The “old” model, with states funding and directing terrorist groups to advance geopolitical objectives, is giving way to a “new” architecture: states increasingly using organized crime networks to conduct […] The post The Criminal Nexus: States, Organized Crime, and State-Sponsored Assassinations appeared first on The Soufan Center.

As the most potent member of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” the Houthi movement of Yemen delivered Tehran a key strategic gain by advancing down the Red Sea coast last week. Iran’s other non-state allies, particularly Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, have pressured U.S. forces and allies by using ballistic missiles, drones, and other weaponry to […] The post Houthi Advance on Red Sea Coast Empowers Tehran appeared first on The Soufan Center.

On the twenty-five-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the organization that masterminded them, al-Qaeda (AQ), is a shell of its former self. Al-Qaeda core, or central, is headed by an aging jihadist named Saif al-Adel, the de facto Emir of the group, who has allegedly been living under near house arrest […] The post The Day That Changed History: 25 Years After the 9/11 Al-Qaeda Attacks appeared first on The Soufan Center.

A U.S. military judge set new date for accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), and three co-defendants, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali to stand trial on June 5, 2028. The scheduling of the trial marks the latest development […] The post 25 Years After 9/11, KSM’s Trial Still Remains Elusive appeared first on The Soufan Center.