Six rather unexplored assumptions about al-Qaeda

Abstract

For all of the prodigious output on the subject of al-Qaeda from scholars and policy-makers alike recently, a number of consequential assumptions about the group remain startlingly unexplored. This paper examines six such assumptions, revealing each one's foundational role in assertions and debates about al-Qaeda (and, in most cases, about terrorism more broadly) despite the relatively unexplored status of each. These six assumptions relate to: (1) the link between the causes or roots of al-Qaeda's violence and deep-rooted anti-Americanism; (2) the relationship between fighting ‘Al-Qaeda in Iraq’ and fighting al-Qaeda globally; (3) the effect of eliminating individual terrorists; (4) the strategic versus social sources of terrorists' motivation; (5) the demonstrative effects of increased homeland security; and (6) the role of the internet in actual terrorist activity.

Keywords:

• al-Qaeda
• terrorism
• assumptions
• unexplored
• research

Acknowledgements

Sincerest thanks to Jeff Michaels and Daniel Morris for their thoughtful and helpful readings of earlier drafts of these reflections, as well as to Richard Jackson for his much appreciated guidance and assistance. Thanks as well to two anonymous reviewers for useful feedback.