Insurgent design: the re-emergence of al-Qa'ida from 9/11 to the present

Download
Author
Russo, Joshua A.
Date
2015-12Advisor
Robinson, Glenn E.
Roberts, Nancy C.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Analysts disagree on how to characterize al-Qa’ida’s evolution. One perspective regards jihadi-Islamism in general to be self-marginalizing. A second perspective describes the merging of discrete jihadist grand strategies that is considered symptomatic of the decline of al-Qa’ida and its allies. A third finds that al-Qa’ida is gathering strength. This study expands upon the gathering strength perspective, contending that al-Qa’ida’s successes are derived from its design orientation and competence. Al-Qa’ida agents have vigorously redesigned their transnational system to adapt to a profoundly hostile and unpredictable environment. For al-Qa’ida and its brethren, the highest rate of adaptation is occurring on the battlefield, as they experiment with varied technologies of warfare, rather than in debate over grand strategic ideas. Where before there were fleeting, desultory actions by terroristic cells, now maturing organizations vie for territorial control, establishing jihadi emirates and proto-states. To respond effectively to the situation, Western understanding of al-Qa’ida and the wider system of jihadi-Islamist insurgency must evolve apace.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Training for terror: a case study of al-Qaida
Kreckovsky, Melanie J. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2002-03);A recently acquired translated copy of an Al-Qaida training manual is analyzed utilizing the Four Frameworks Model, which states that organizations can be better understood if they are studied from structural, human ... -
New Terrorism? a case study of Al-Qaida and the Lebanese Hezbollah
Rueda, Edwin O. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2001-12);In recent years, scholars have argued that the last decade of the 20th Century saw the emergence of a new type of terrorism distinct from that which the world had suffered since 1968. The argument presented in this thesis ... -
New Terrorism? a case study of Al-Qaida and the Lebanese Hezbollah
Rueda, Edwin O. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2001-12);In recent years, scholars have argued that the last decade of the 20th Century saw the emergence of a new type of terrorism distinct from that which the world had suffered since 1968. The argument presented in this thesis ...