Terrorism specialist John Schindler, the author of “Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad,” is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He discussed the changing global danger Americans face with McClatchy-Tribune foreign-affairs columnist John C. Bersia.

Will President George W. Bush’s eleventh-hour visit to the Middle East this week deliver more than photo opportunities?
One might be tempted to say no, based on the low expectations that emanate from virtually all directions. With the right effort, though – that is, demonstrating some humility, advancing a future vision for the region and downplaying [...]

When Benazir Bhutto, the recently assassinated former prime minister of Pakistan, returned to her homeland some months ago, more than a few of my informed sources made reference to a “dead woman walking.”
It was, they said, only a matter of time before her violent, religiously extreme adversaries would make good on their threats and claim [...]

Will Turkey invade Iraq?
I hope not, although that question incessantly hovers over a deteriorating situation along the border between the two countries. In recent days, clashes involving Turkish troops and a Kurdish extremist group known as the PKK have killed dozens of Turks and militants. Several Turkish soldiers have wound up as hostages.
As bad as [...]

Around the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda officials typically cannot resist invading the consciousness of decent people with reminders of their past misdeeds, along with the fact that they still lurk menacingly in the shadows. This year, though, for the first time in a long while, terrorism financier Osama bin Laden himself apparently has [...]

The most encouraging news of the last week — the results of the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey showing a decline in Muslim support for violence against civilians — failed to grab many prominent headlines. But it contributes to evidence that a substantial number of the largely silent majority of Islamic moderates may have [...]

An official U.S. intelligence report about the “return” of al-Qaeda has sparked considerable worry, echoing the concerns of those who had never stopped paying attention to the rebounding terrorist group.
Nearly six years after Sept. 11, it stands to reason that al-Qaeda would have regrouped and drawn strength from events such as the conflict in Iraq. [...]

As a former resident of London, I personally resent the recent terrorist upheaval there and in other parts of the United Kingdom. Sadly, the alleged perpetrators – largely medical professionals – like others before them, have apparently embraced a narrow, perverted, rampaging interpretation of Islam.
Yet, as absurd as the problem is, it also is very [...]