Whereas al qaeda consistently describes its intended targets in religious loaded termsas christians, jews, crusaders, followers of the cross, hindus, buddhists, apostates, idolaters, infidels, and polytheistsand will frequently spare people, even americans, if they are muslims, many journalists consistently describe al qaeda strikes as attacks on westerners, nonarabs, or americans and. A brief summary of the soviet invasion of afghanistan in 1979, of the us invasion of iraq in 2003, and how these historic events were related to terrorism, and more specifically to al qaeda and the islamic state. While it has traits that exploit and reflect the current international. However, the fact that only a small minority of muslims around the world support or are actively involved in these kinds of attacks, raises questions of whether religion is the sole motivator behind terrorism, and. Al qaeda, the islamic state, and the global jihadist. Berger international centre for counter terrorism the hague william braniff start consortium, university of maryland cole bunzel incepr ton univ ersity daniel byman. Alqaeda defector al fadl, who was a former member of qatar charity, testified in court that abdullah mohammed yusef, who served as qatar charitys director, was affiliated to alqaeda and simultaneously to the national islamic front, a political group that gave alqaeda leader osama bin laden harbor in sudan in the early 1990s.
The history of terrorism from antiquity to al qaeda edited by gerard chaliand and arnaud blin. Al qaeda, the islamic state and the evolution of an insurgency. Indeed, the religious point of reference was long central to most societies, and this phenomenon has not yet exhausted itself. It was led and financed by osama bin laden, a radical sunni muslim. Amongst these documents is a letter written in 1993 by an al qaida member in somalia to the leadership in sudan. Thoroughly revised and expanded, the book analyzes in detail terrorism related to almost all the worlds major religious traditions. In that sense, terrorism is the most violent form of psy. Al qaeda leaders and their ideological supporters have advocated a violent message that some suggest is rooted in these conservative islamic traditions. The article then considers four possible explanations of what alqaeda was hoping to achieve on 911. Al qaeda and the nature of religious terrorism request pdf. They have sought to serve as the vanguard of a religious. Alqaeda as an adversary do we understand our enemy.
This article examines the nature of religious terrorism, principally with reference to al qaeda. This article analyzes how spreading democracy would impact four different sets of underlying motivations that lead to this kind of terrorism. The al qaeda reader should be required reading for any student of political science who wants to understand terrorism. American christians who support abortion clinic bombings and militia actions. It is a stateless meaning without a country terrorist organization. Al qaeda, the islamic state and the evolution of an insurgency lister, charles r. Like all other terrorist movements, al qaeda will end. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of.
Religious ideology and lethality does religious sect have an effect on the lethality of a terrorist organization ssrn electronic journal. However, religious extremism has become a central issue for the global community. The jihadi threat united states institute of peace. History of al qaeda and terrorism against the usa 2. After the war was over, the mujahedeen form training camps and certain leaders start to appear. Wright gives chilling details and insights into terrorist networks.
The book starts with describing how the brave mujahedeen fought the russians with primitive weapons and how the americans explicitly helped them. Few american writers understand the phenomenon of islambased terrorism better than writer lawrence wright, whose 2006 book the looming tower comprehensively detailed the rise of al qaeda. Al qaeda, an islamist terrorist network striving to undermine u. Examines violent terrorist groups that, while not formally allied with al qaeda, could pose a threat to americans now or in the future and to the security of our friends and allies. A comparative analysis of alqaeda and the islamic state is muhammad munir and muhammad shafiq abstract. Although it is the most hunted terrorist group in history, the campaign of holy war unleashed by alqaeda is likely to outlive itself and the current generation of islamists. Al qaeda and the nature of religious terrorism mark sedgwick department of history, american university in cairo, cairo, egypt this article examines the nature of religious terrorism, principally with reference to al qaeda.
The fact that the most notorious instances of contemporary terrorism have a religious dimension, notwithstanding their political aims. Click download or read online button to us counter terrorism strategy and al qaeda book pdf for free now. This book links together his earlier works in a fascinating read. The definitive work on al qaeda, this book is based on five years of research, including extensive interviews with its members. Today, the movement is present on m ore than fifty different. The first half covers the evolution of the ideology of. This article examines the nature of religious terrorism, principally with reference to alqaeda. Al qaeda s founding leaders were the pioneers of the new terrorism. This is not to suggest that it is the only model because nationalism and ideology remain as potent catalysts for extremist behavior. The terrorist attacks of 911in which al qaeda operatives flew airplanes into the world trade center and the pentagon and attempted to crash an additional plane into the capitol building in washington, dchighlighted for many the role religion could play in terrorism. Terrorist organizations are always created to promote the interests of various countries, most of the time their interests in the oil and natural gas industries. This study first examines how al qaeda has changed since september 11. In al qaeda, the islamic state, and the global jihadist movement.
Al qaeda s culture of jihad engenders a breeding ground for new acts of international terrorism. How will the strategy of spreading democracy affect the threat of terrorism from al qaeda and likeminded islamic extremist groups. Religious terrorism t errorism in the name of religion has become the predominant model for political violence in the modern world. Nowadays, terrorism beats out guerrilla warfare as the preferred and practically exclusive weapon of the weak against the strong. Al qaeda as an adversary do we understand our enemy. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and. Like other totalitarian movements, the movements leaders have rationalized their brutality in a number of published treatises. The level of cooperation among al qaeda and other terrorist groups has changed in the past. This essay explains why al qaeda is a business, which is actually true for all terrorist groups. Byman, an eminent scholar of middle east terrorism and international security who served on the 911 commission, provides a sharp and concise overview of al qaeda, from its humble origins in the mountains of afghanistan to the present. Us counter terrorism strategy and al qaeda download us counter terrorism strategy and al qaeda ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. Defining terrorism the task of defining terrorism is complicated, but absolutely necessary in order to develop a sufficient understanding of this. Al qaeda and other islamic terrorist movements are entirely dependent on their potent ideological message to attract fresh recruits.
Byman, an eminent scholar of middle east terrorism and international security who served on the 911 commission, provides a sharp and concise overview of al qaeda, from its humble origins in the mountains of afghanistan to the. The combating terrorism center at west point recently released a series of al qaida documents captured in afghanistan by us forces under the title harmony and disharmony. Internal al qaida documents reinforce this hypothesis. Alqaeda and the nature of religious terrorism 799 of these three groups, the thugs emerge as purely religious but perhaps not as terrorists, the zealots emerge as religious and political, and the assassins emerge as political and religious. Inside al qaeda examines the leadership, ideology, structure, strategies, and tactics of the most violent politico religious organization the world has ever seen. The globalization of martyrdom political violence goldenjayna. Terrorism is not an ideology, and al qaeda s ideology of seeking a talibanlike.
Their ferocity as well as the ability to maintain and grow selfsustaining branches within. The national commission on terrorist attacks upon the. Pdf religious ideology and the roots of the global jihad. Muslims in the middle east associated with the rise of isis, al qaeda, and hamas. Al qaeda embodies the extremism and rigidity of an ancient sect called the kharijites, and much of its philosophy comes from 20thcentury author sayyid qutb and his views on islamic resistance to colonialism. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of religious terrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated. Lawrence wrights chilling new book explores roots of. The al qaeda network today also comprises semiautonomous or self radicalized actors, who often have only peripheral or ephemeral ties to either the core cadre in pakistan or affiliated groups elsewhere. The bitter situation that the nation has reached is a result of its divergence from allahs course and his righteous law for all places and times.
Alqaeda, an islamist terrorist network striving to undermine u. The jihadi threat isis, al qaeda, and beyond robin wright united states institute of peace woodrow wilson center j. Hoffman notes on page 214 of his book inside terrorism, before 91, al qaeda had only one web site. The attached manual was located by the manchester england. Al qaeda and affiliates congressional research service summary al qaeda aq has evolved into a significantly different terrorist organization than the one that. Al qaeda, salafi jihad, and the diffusion of suicide attacks. Download pdf us counter terrorism strategy and al qaeda. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of religious terrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated, the immediate objectives will often be found to be almost purely political. It then turns to an analysis of the broader global jihadist movement al qaeda and affiliated or associated terrorist groups or groups that may not be formally part of the al qaeda network but that have assimilated its worldview and concept of masscasualty terrorist attacks. The transformation of terrorism from alqaeda to the islamic state is has created new security challenges. First and foremost, let it be stated that chaos industries assumes no responsibilities for any misuse of the information presented in this publication. Religion and government, worship and jihad holy war, ethics and dealing with people, and the koran and sword. Since then, academics have been attempting to analyze and understand how religion and terrorism intersect. It is commonly believed that religion is what motivates terrorist organizations such as al qaeda and its associated organizations, to perpetrate deadly attacks against civilians.
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