Joining Al-Qaeda

Joining Al-Qaeda
Author: Peter R. Neumann
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0415547318

This paper explains the processes whereby European Muslims are recruited into the Islamist militant movement. It reveals that although overt recruitment has been driven underground, prisons and other 'places of vulnerability' are increasingly important alternatives.

Stray Dogs and Virtual Armies

Stray Dogs and Virtual Armies
Author: Brian Michael Jenkins
Publisher: RAND Corporation
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2011-08-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780833058805

Since 9/11, "homegrown terrorists" have planned or implemented terrorist activities, supported others' terrorist activities, or become radicalized in the United States and traveled abroad to conduct activities against other countries or the United States. This paper examines the cases of homegrown terrorism, highlights lessons learned from those cases that suggest future actions, and includes a chronology of terrorist events in the United States.

Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement

Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement
Author: Daniel Byman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 019021726X

Founded as the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, Al Qaeda achieved a degree of international notoriety with a series of spectacular attacks in the 1990s; however, it was the dramatic assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 that truly launched Al Qaeda onto the global stage. The attacks endowed the organization with world-historical importance and provoked an overwhelming counterattack by the United States and other western countries. Within a year of 9/11, the core of Al Qaeda had been chased out of Afghanistan and into a variety of refuges across the Muslim world. Splinter groups and franchised offshoots were active in the 2000s in countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen, but by early 2011, after more than a decade of relentless counterterrorism efforts by the United States and other Western military and intelligence services, most felt that Al Qaeda's moment had passed.

The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda

The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda
Author: Fawaz A. Gerges
Publisher: OUP USA
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2011-09-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199790655

The author re-evaluates the threat posed by Al-Qaeda following a decade of war.

Agent Storm

Agent Storm
Author: Morten Storm
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2014-09-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 080219236X

The true story of a jihadi convert seeking redemption in “a rollicking read and a rare insider’s account of Western spying in the age of al Qaeda” (The New York Times Book Review). Standing over six feet tall with flaming red hair, Morten Storm was an unlikely jihadi. But after a troubled youth in his native Denmark, Storm found peace and purpose in his conversion to Islam. His absolute devotion only grew after he attended a militant madrasa in Yemen, named his son Osama, and became close friends with American-born terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Then, after a decade of jihadi life, he not only rejected extremism—he began a quest for atonement, becoming a double agent for the CIA as well as British and Danish intelligence agencies. Agent Storm takes readers inside the fanatical jihadist mindset and into the shadows of the world’s most powerful spy agencies in an action-packed account that “reads like a screenplay for a James Bond movie written by Joel and Ethan Coen” (The Washington Post).

Al-Qaida in Afghanistan

Al-Qaida in Afghanistan
Author: Anne Stenersen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2017-07-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1107075130

This book presents an alternative narrative of al-Qaida's aims, goals and strategies prior to the events of 9/11.

Decoding Al-Qaeda's Strategy

Decoding Al-Qaeda's Strategy
Author: Michael Ryan
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2013-07-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0231163843

The first book to draw a blueprint for defeating al-Qaeda on ideological rather than military grounds.

Al Qaeda in Europe

Al Qaeda in Europe
Author: Lorenzo Vidino
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2009-12-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 161592311X

Written by an expert at The Investigative Project, a counterterrorism institute and America's largest private data-gathering center on militant Islamic activities, this text fills a critical gap in the understanding of the new threats posed by Islamist terrorism.

United States of Jihad

United States of Jihad
Author: Peter L. Bergen
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2016
Genre: Jihad
ISBN: 0804139547

Presents a look at "homegrown" Islamist terrorism, from 9/11 to the present, discusses the perpetrators who have acted both in the U.S. and abroad, and examines the controversial tactics used to track potential terrorists. --Publisher's description.