Faisal Al Yafai

Dismissing those who fight jihad as alienated young men is both misleading and dangerous, writes Faisal Al Yafai. Theirs is an ideology we must understand if we intend to defeat it.

For centuries, men and women have answered the call to fight in the name of God. From Islamist militias to terror cells and lone bombers, we look at the shifting arguments shaping global 'jihad'.

The regime of Bashar Al Assad is neither an ally nor a saviour, writes Faisal Al Yafai. It is the architect of the ISIL ailment

If the West repeats its history of bombing Iraq, it is the Arabs who will - once again - be doomed to live with the consequences, writes Faisal Al Yafai

The demands by the Shia Houthis show that they do not want to reform Yemen's current political system - rather, they seek to supercede it, argues Faisal Al Yafai

The West cannot win the war of ideas with radical jihad if it does not confront the politics of its past, writes Faisal Al Yafai

For Islamist militants like the Islamic State, there is only one definitive guide to the art of war. But the way they understand conflict, argues Faisal Al Yafai, makes them even more dangerous than Al Qaeda

Something has festered in the heart of the Middle East, writes Faisal Al Yafai. Militant jihadism is only a symptom of the parlous state of politics and society in the Middle East

A television advert in Armenia has a surprisingly relevant message for the Middle East, writes Faisal Al Yafai

Many Iraqis today mourn the end of its monarchy, a gilded age in their imaginations. But the country that King Faisal II ruled over was not the lavish world of culture and modernity that many remember, writes Faisal Al Yafai

If neither political opponents nor allies can force Israel's prime minister to accept international law, there is a strong case for intervention from the international community, writes Faisal Al Yafai

Incitement and violence against Palestinians flourishes in a particular political culture, writes Faisal Al Yafai - one that has been cultivated to put the possibility of peace beyond reach

The Arab-American scholar who wrote "The Dream Palace of the Arabs" was a devoted neoconservative and a fierce promoter of the 2003 Iraq War. But he was, writes Faisal Al Yafai, too swift to defend US military power and too slow to understand the complexities of the Middle East

The wars in Iraq and Syria are making the Middle East more dangerous - and America itself less safe, writes Faisal Al Yafai

Samir Kassir was assassinated nine years ago this week. Yet his analysis of the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad and its effect on Lebanon remains relevant today, writes Faisal Al Yafai