Western Jihadism: A Thirty Year History

Description

This book tells the story of how Al Qaeda grew in the West. In forensic and compelling detail, Jytte Klausen traces how Islamist revolutionaries exiled in Europe and North America in the 1990s helped create and control one of the world's most impactful terrorist movements--and how, after the near-obliteration of the organization during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, they helped build it again. She shows how the diffusion of Islamist terrorism to Europe and North America has been driven, not by local grievances of Western Muslims, but by the strategic priorities of the international Salafi-jihadist revolutionary movement. That movement has adapted to Western repertoires of protest: agitating for armed insurrection and religious revivalism in the name of a warped version of Islam. The jihadists-Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, and their many affiliates and associates--also proved to be amazingly resilient. Again and again, the movement recovered from major setbacks. Appealing to disaffected Muslims of immigrant origin and alienated converts to Islam, Jihadist groups continue to recruit new adherents in Europe and North America, street-side in neighborhoods, in jails, and online through increasingly clandestine platforms. Taking a comparative and historical approach, deploying cutting-edge analytical tools, and drawing on her unparalleled database of up to 6,500 Western jihadist extremists and their networks, Klausen has produced the most comprehensive account yet of the origins of Western jihadism and its role in the global movement. Cover WESTERN JIHADISM: A thirty-year history Copyright Dedication Preface Acknowledgments Contents 1: Introduction Explaining jihadist terrorism in the West Notes 2: The Founder The education of Osama Bin Laden Pakistan Global Jihad, Inc. Next stop, Sudan The London office Back to Afghanistan Bin Laden, the TV celebrity In hiding The making of Bin Laden Notes 3: The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing A failed assassination in Rome The Kahane killing A shooting at Langley The 1993 World Trade Center bombing A classic conspiracy The foreign agents The Danish connection Al Qaeda’s American bases Notes 4: The Sudan Years Strength through alliances The Egyptian jihad Ayman al-Zawahiri Holy War in Bosnia Khalid Sheikh Mohammed The defector The embassy bombings The capture of Ali Mohamed The Santa Clara cell The Albania colony Defeat, and then globalization Notes 5: The European Bases How much did they cooperate? The London office The Al-Ansarnewsletter The Algerians The Algerians in Europe London HQ Beyond “Londonistan” The Millennium attacks The Tunisians Strasbourg Christmas market bombing The assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud Postscript Notes 6: 9/11: The Day Everything Changed The hijackings On the ground Planning the 9/11 attacks The Europeans Why was Bin Laden not stopped? The United States Goes to War Against Terrorism Unintended consequences Notes 7: Homegrown Terrorism The next wave The master planner The Finsbury Park Mosque Al-Muhajiroun Who was really in charge? Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe Belgium Germany France The Netherlands Spain A new network type The next generation Notes 8: Theory and Practice of the Armed Struggle The “individual duty” Life as a jihadist Who to kill—and how to kill The jihadist public intellectuals Fighting the good fight The when and where of the armed jihad The “Methodology” “Democracy is forbidden” Becoming a jihadist When Muslims do the wrong thing When the revolution comes Another postscript Notes 9: Made in the USA The would-bedirty bomb-maker Americans in Al Qaeda The post-9/11 jihadists The scorecard Geographical diffusion Who are the American jihadists? American converts Black Americans in Al Qaeda Criminality Women Roles in the struggle Why do they do it? Notes 10: The Boston Marathon Bombers Do-it-yourselfterrorism Boston in lockdown The prosecution Why did they do it? Family as a radicalizing agent Tamerlan’s quest Typical terrorists Peer immersion online and offline Martyrdom and redemption Accomplices Notes 11: The ISIS Effect The foreign fighter calculus Porous borders The Western travelers Networks, networks, and networks Mobilizing the recruits The European bases rise again The Sharia4 network Jewish targets The Brussels vortex Don’t blame the internet What do they do when they join? Notes 12: The Never-Ending Forever War The next cycle Proxy wars and the jihadists What is to be done? Notes Appendix: Methodology Notes Bibliography Index