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This reading list is based on what I teach my students at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Class 1: An overview of Islamist terrorism and its intellectual influences, and a discussion of the underlying causes of the 9/11 attacks. Class 2: The Afghan war against the Soviet Union, the role of the […]

This class will examine how the al Qaeda network established itself in the United States. The class will focus in particular on the 1993 Trade Center attack; the mastermind of that attack, Ramzi Yousef; Yousef?s uncle, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who would eventually become al Qaeda?s military commander, and Ahmed Ressam who attempted to bomb Los Angeles airport at the time of the Millennium. We will also discuss the role of Brooklyn?s Afghan Refugee Center, which was effectively a branch office of al Qaeda, and Ali Mohamed, a former US army sergeant who was an important leader within al Qaeda.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen was in Saudi Arabia this month, back three weeks ago for first — what is considered the first international conference on terrorism. Peter, good morning to you down there in D.C. PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning, Bill. HEMMER: What can you tell us about […]

Joining us here, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. He witnessed the voting in Riyadh. He was there for the last week or so, just back in the United States.What’s your bottom-line assessment? Is this just window- dressing, if you will, you know, wallpaper? Or is there something really going on in Saudi Arabia that we […]

  Letter from Riyadh in National Review Online February 14, 2005, 7:50 a.m.Letter From RiyadhAre we witnessing a Saudi glasnost? By Peter Bergen In the sprawling desert city where Osama bin Laden was born almost half a century ago, last week the Saudis held their first international counterterrorism conference. A couple of days after the […]

SEN. BARBARA BOXER: Thank you, Dr. Rice, for agreeing to stay as long as it takes, because some of us do have a lot of questions….

One of the things that matters most to my people in California and the people in America is this war in Iraq. Now, it took you to Page 3 of your testimony to mention the word “Iraq.” You said very little really about it, and only in the questioning have we been able to get into some areas….

AROUND the Islamic world it is common currency that Muslims are perpetual victims of Western and Zionist conspiracies. The bill of particulars includes the handling of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Israel’s inequitable treatment of the Palestinians, and the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iraq – as a result first of United Nations sanctions after the Persian Gulf war, and more recently of the American occupation. The most articulate spokesman of such views is, of course, Osama bin Laden.

COLLINS: For this week’s “On Terror’s Trail,” we go to Washington where the FBI and Department of Homeland Security sent a new intelligence bulletin this week to the nation’s police agencies. It outlined new details about al Qaeda surveillance inside the United States.An al Qaeda operative, known as Al-Britani, is believed to have cased particular […]

WALLACE: The authenticity of the tape aired by the Arabic language network Al-Jazeera could not be immediately verified. But for more, let’s bring in CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. Peter, always great to see you. Anything from your initial listening to the tape to give you a sense if it’s authentic or not? PETER BERGEN, […]

On Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, President Bushs national security adviser, is scheduled to testify under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. The Op-Ed page invited two people with expertise in terrorism and national security to suggest questions for Dr. Rice. 1. A search of all your public statements and writings reveals that you apparently mentioned Osama bin Laden only once and never mentioned Al Qaeda at all as a threat to the United States before 9/11. Why?