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Ed Husain

Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

Expertise

Islamist ideologies; Islamist political movements in the greater Middle East; civil society counterradicalization strategies; government counterterrorism policies; Salafism; Sufism; Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

Programs

Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, Middle East Program

Featured Publications

All Publications

Video

9/11 Perspectives: Splinters in the Global Islamist Movement

Speaker: Ed Husain

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how
9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Ed Husain, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who was previously a member and strategist for radical Islamist organizations in London discusses the impact of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Islamist extremism as well as global counter-terrorism efforts. "The most important thing that happened after 9/11," says Husain, "is not just the so-called 'War on Terror', but more importantly, the unspoken and often unheard developments within Islamist extremism globally." Husain argues that "the global Islamist movement then split into two, immediately after 9/11," into global jihadists like al-Qaeda on one side and non-violent extremists on the other.

See more in United States, 9/11, Terrorist Organizations

Video

Bin Laden May Become More Powerful Dead

Speaker: Ed Husain

Ed Husain, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that Osama bin Laden is more valuable to al-Qaeda dead than alive. Comparing bin Laden's death to that of Sayyid Qutb, Husain argues bin Laden could now become an even more powerful icon.

See more in Algeria, Terrorism