All Policy Analysis by Matthew Levitt

The year 2001 will forever be known as the year of the worst terrorist attack in the history of mankind, so far. The 2001 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, the U.S. government's preeminent annual accounting of international terrorism, understandably focuses on Sept. 11 and attacks by al-Qaida and its

In an effort to resuscitate flat-lining Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, President Bush dispatched CIA Director George Tenet to the region one more time. This time, however, his mission has focused not on obtaining a ceasefire, but on merging the various Palestinian security forces into a coherent, hierarchical, and accountable security and intelligence

As President George W. Bush completes his latest European trip -- one highlighted by a symbolic Memorial Day speech in Normandy that underscored the link between America's past wars and the current war on terror -- his European Union (EU) hosts have begun to implement a policy on terrorism that

The State Department recently submitted its semiannual Palestine Liberation Organization Commitments Compliance Act (PLOCCA) report to Congress, assessing PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) compliance with commitments made under the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords during the period June 15, 2001–December 15, 2001. The report acknowledges some PA shortcomings over the reporting period

The 2001 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, the U.S. government's preeminent annual accounting of international terrorism, is slated for release tomorrow, a few weeks later than its usual April unveiling. The delay is presumably the result of the sharp rise in international terror activity in 2001. The report is

The threat of devastating terrorist attacks targeting Americans still is very real despite the near-hysterical, though unsubstantiated, warnings of al-Qaida's plans to strike at everything from banks to grocery stores. Based on intelligence found in Afghanistan, 15 people were arrested in Singapore for planning to bomb the U.S. Embassy, American

The State Department's annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report, which is scheduled for release in late May, is set to be a much longer and more detailed document than before. Among the many issues the report will have to address is the resurrection of secular Palestinian terrorist groups, some of

Operation Defensive Shield—the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF's) counterterrorism operation in the West Bank—aims to confiscate illegal weaponry and bombing materiel; destroy factories producing bombs and missiles; constrict the environment in which terrorists plan, prepare, and execute terror attacks; and, most important, apprehend the operatives behind the current terrorist offensive. The

Responding to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' latest suicide bombing—which threatened to undermine the third straight peace mission of Middle East envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni—the State Department broke with tradition and announced the group's pending designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), even before Congress completed the process leading to its

On March 1, 2002, Matthew Levitt, Dennis Ross, and Patrick Clawson addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Levitt is a senior fellow in terrorism studies at the Institute and a former terrorism analyst for the FBI. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks. Read a summary

While publicly stressing Saudi Arabia's cooperation and shared concern regarding terrorist financing, U.S. treasury secretary Paul O'Neill held private consultations this past week in Riyadh with Saudi officials and businessmen regarding specific Saudi organizations and individuals suspected of financing terrorist activities. Promising to find clear-cut cases, O'Neill reassured his hosts

Lebanon may well have come to the West Bank and Gaza. Over the past year and a half, Hamas has adopted traditional Hizballah guerilla tactics such as roadside bombings, short-range rocket and mortar launchings, using squads of terrorists from a variety of groups, and videotaping attacks and potential suicide bombers

Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet testified before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on February 6 that Iran continues to be "the foremost state sponsor of terrorism." Citing its attempt to transfer offensive arms to the Palestinian Authority (PA) aboard the Karine-A smuggling ship, Tenet said that there has been

With its longstanding support for terrorism, both pre- and post-September 11, Syria poses a unique challenge to U.S. antiterror strategy. Unlike Iran -- whose leaders orchestrate public chants of "Death to America, death to Israel" and thereby provide rhetorical context to their sponsorship of terrorism -- Damascus proclaims its desire

As the Bush administration surveys options for the next phases in the war on terrorism, scant attention has been focused on Syria -- despite the fact that Dr. Bashar al-Asad's regime has been among the world's most active supporters of terrorism, even after September 11. Background Syria is a charter

On December 16, Palestinian television broadcast a pre-recorded speech in Arabic by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasir Arafat calling for "a complete cessation of any operation or actions, especially suicide attacks." Since he said many of the right words, it is important to clarify what would constitute a "100 percent

In the wake of this weekend's heinous Hamas suicide attacks in Israel, President Bush demanded, "Now more than ever, Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must demonstrate through their actions and not merely their words their commitment to fight terror." Last month the administration designated Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Since September 11, the Bush administration has issued seven different lists of terrorist groups, including terrorist organizations, front companies, and individuals. In its effort to prosecute the war on terrorism, the administration has articulated the goal of eradicating Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network and its Taliban hosts rather

In response to last week's Hamas suicide attack on a school bus of Jewish children in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has inaugurated its most comprehensive security crackdown since the aftermath of the wave of suicide bombings in February and March 1996. Shaykh Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of

Return of U.S. Mediation: Less than four months after the standoff between the Clinton and Netanyahu administrations over the extent of Israel's further redeployment (FRD) from the West Bank, Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross is back in the Middle East trying to "narrow the differences" between the Israeli and