A group of armed Islamists make the rounds in Gao, the biggest city in northern Mali, in September. Photo by Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images. By Jonathan Masters, online writer/editor for the Council on Foreign Relations Introduction Al-Qaida in the Islamic…

One Million Moms for Gun Control, a group formed after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., marches across the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images. Not even a week into President Obama's second term, the…