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.

You have to wonder what is going on in the minds of Pakistan’s leaders as the Pakistani Taliban seemingly retreat from their defiant occupation of a district dangerously close to the nation’s capital –- a crisis that has left the country and the world on edge.
Are President Asif Ali Zardari and his advisors so confident [...]

Terrorists reached new lows of ugly behavior in Baghdad last week by remotely detonating the explosives-laden bodies of two mentally challenged women. Now, it is bad enough when terrorists knowingly sacrifice themselves to cause murder and mayhem. But when they manipulate others into doing their evil bidding – in this case, as unwitting suicide bombers [...]

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan, backed by military muscle, could ignite a wildfire of discontent and instability that sends him scurrying from power, some critics contend. Others cheer the weekend’s strong-arm move as overdue and decisive, in fact, the proper prescription for an epidemic of Islamic extremism. Of [...]

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 [...]