As the French-led military forces retake northern Mali, [AQIM emir Abdelmalek] Droukdel's eight month old letter should resonate as an ominous warning as it points to a long-term strategic plan to outlive the intervention and sets the stage for a potentially successful return. Clearly, under Droukdel's leadership, AQIM has no intention of relinquishing northern Mali.

Trace the Iraq war campaign through ten CFR meetings that assembled some of the leading foreign policy analysts and news figures of the past decade.

In the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, a resurgent al-Qaeda in Iraq, allied with jihadist fighters in neighboring Syria, constitutes a considerable threat to regional security, explains this Backgrounder.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights and Counterterrorism Ben Emmerson released this statement on March 14, 2013, following his meetings in Pakistan with victims of drone strikes.

This account of what led to the [Anwar al-]Awlaki strike, based on interviews with three dozen current and former legal and counterterrorism officials and outside experts, fills in new details of the legal, intelligence and military challenges faced by the Obama administration in what proved to be a landmark episode in American history and law.

This report looks at why extremist strategic communications in Pakistan have been so successful and what it would take for the government and its allies to reverse the gains of what is sometimes called "the al-Qaeda worldview." Like all good communications campaigns, extremist messaging is grounded in a reality. In this case, that reality is the views and emotions—and the narratives that articulate them—that were born out of the establishment and subsequent conduct of the state of Pakistan.

A panel of experts discusses U.S. drone policy.

Ambassador Fredrick Barton assesses challenges facing his bureau stemming from conflicts around the world.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague gave these remarks about counterterrorism and the threat of al-Qaeda at the Royal United Services Institute on February 14, 2013.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chief of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 7, 2013, about the September attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya and the response of the Defense Department. Panetta's and Dempsey's prepared remarks and video of the hearing are available on the Committee's website.

A leaked government document has recharged the controversy over the use of lethal force against U.S. citizens. CFR's Matthew C. Waxman highlights three legal considerations.

Globalizing Torture is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with CIA secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations.

Some experts believe al-Shabaab is at its weakest point in years following an African-led counterinsurgency campaign, but others warn of the group's resiliency in an unstable Somalia.

Al-Qaeda's affiliates "provide new justification for the Obama administration's efforts to turn elements of its counterterrorism policies, including kill lists and drone bases, into fixtures for a fight expected to last another decade or more."

Jihadists were already finding it hard to operate in North Africa before the Arab Spring of 2011. Since then their problems have become almost insurmountable: they thrive only in countries where Islamists are in prison, not where they are in the ascendant or contesting elections. As for Europe, the last attacks instigated by al-Qaida date back to Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005. Jihadism looks less like a rising phenomenon in the north of Mali than a force in retreat. The French intervention may well give them purpose and greater coherence.

"Homegrown violent jihadist activity since 9/11 defies easy categorization. No workable general profile of domestic violent jihadists exists."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 23, 2013, about the September attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya and the response of the State Department.

Admiral Dennis Blair and CFR's Micah Zenko discuss U.S. drone strike policies.

Unconventional wars are our most pressing national security concern. They're also the most ancient form of war in the world. Max Boot describes the lessons of insurgency we seem unable to learn.