Arab Digest editor William Law’s guest this week is the Yemen and Jihadist expert Dr Elisabeth Kendall. She assesses the enduring threat of AQAP – Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – and the extent to which the movement can exploit both the war and the current truce in an attempt to reassert its terror bona fides.
Sitting at number six in the top ten countdown is Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: down but not out with Elisabeth Kendall. Her conversation with William Law was podcast on 17 September, 2021. Dr Kendall is a Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University’s Pembroke College and an expert on Yemen and on Jihadist movements. In October she takes up her appointment as Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.
Summary: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, though seriously degraded by US drone strikes, remains a constant threat and one emboldened by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan.
Summary: As the world adjusts to the Taliban victory, and the US and UK scramble to make the last evacuations before the looming 31 August deadline, Arab regimes face a disconcerting moment.
Summary: As Turkey, Russia and the US weigh up their options, a shaky ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib province may be about to end.
Summary: importance of poetry in the Arab world, including the poetry of abuse. Social media and hate speech.
