The Al-Qaeda Doctrine: The Framing and Evolution of the Leadership's Public Discourse

by Donald Holbrook, John G. Horgan, Mark Currie, Max Taylor

Overview

Ever since it was first established, the senior leadership of Al-Qaeda has sought to communicate its core values, rationalizations, and principles to the world. Altogether, these statements convey Al-Qaeda's doctrine and the beliefs for which the leadership claims to be fighting.

This volume in the New Directions in Terrorism Studies series analyzes over 250 statements made by the organization's two key leaders, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Usama Bin Ladin, over the last two decades. It provides an in-depth and systematic analysis of these communications, showing which key issues emphasized by the two leaders evolved over time and highlighting their core principles. It explore Al-Qaeda's problem diagnosis, the solutions offered by its two leaders, their escalating —although often contradictory— approach towards violence, and their chosen communication strategy for different types of audiences.

The book shows how Al-Qaeda's leadership began to develop an increasingly critical approach towards Islam in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and discusses tensions that may undermine the resilience of its doctrine. This unique evidence-based analysis of Al-Qaeda will attract academics specializing in terrorism and counterterrorism as well as the policy community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501317309
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/28/2016
Series:	New Directions in Terrorism Studies
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Donald Holbrook is Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK. He has contributed to The Routledge Handbook of Terrorist Research (2011) and co-edited Extreme Right Wing Political Violence and Terrorism (Continuum, 2012).

Table of Contents

Glossary
Preface
The Aims of this Book
1. Introduction
2. Understanding Al-Qaeda
3. Jihadi Ideology
4. Al-Qaeda's Problem Diagnosis
5. The Solution
6. Communicating the Message
7. Contradictions, Tensions and Inconsistencies
8. The Al-Qaeda Doctrine: Understanding the Public Discourse
Notes
Bibliography
Appendix
Details of Statements Analyzed

Editorial Reviews

One way or another, terrorism revolves around the terrorist's message. Donald Holbrook dissects with precision and insight the evolution of Al-Qaeda's message. Anyone with serious ambitions of understanding the world's most important terrorist movement will need to read this book. Essential and ground-breaking.” —Professor Andrew Silke, University of East London, UK

“Violence always calls for justification. The two supreme leaders of Al-Qaeda have put together a compelling narrative that has inspired and mobilised thousands of young Muslims, turning them into violent jihadists. Dr. Holbrook has painstakingly dissected Bin Ladin's and Ayman al-Zawahiri's public messages, providing us with a clear exposition of Al-Qaeda's evolving ideological discourse. A must read for those who wish to understand and counter Al-Qaeda's agenda and worldview.” —Prof. em. Alex P. Schmid, Editor-in-Chief, Perspectives on Terrorism

“In this impressive monograph, the author draws on often overlooked statements and communiqués by the senior leadership of Al-Qaeda, providing the most comprehensive and definitive study of the Al-Qaeda doctrine to date. The analysis presents a key to unlocking both the wider ideological contours which have informed the formation, growth, and appeal of violent Islamist activism, and the beliefs and ideas which the Al-Qaeda leadership have deployed to support their movement. Written in accessible prose, this is a significant study and a major contribution to scholarship which will be widely read by students and scholars alike.” —Dr Cerwyn Moore, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, POLSIS, University of Birmingham, UK

“The Al-Qaeda Doctrine represents an important contribution to the literature in its masterful dissection and analysis of that movement's violent Islamist discourse. It thus sheds new light on the mindset and thought processes of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri as well as on the narrative that has sustained and replenished al-Qaeda throughout its history.” —Bruce Hoffman, Professor and Director of Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies

From the Publisher

The Al-Qaeda Doctrine represents an important contribution to the literature in its masterful dissection and analysis of that movement's violent Islamist discourse. It thus sheds new light on the mindset and thought processes of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri as well as on the narrative that has sustained and replenished al-Qaeda throughout its history.

Professor and Director of Georgetown University's Bruce Hoffman