The rise and fall of al-qaeda

In this concise and fascinating book, Fawaz A. Gerges argues that Al-Qaeda is no longer a threat to the West. He provides a briskly written history of theorganization. Gerges interviewed many jihadis, gaining a first-hand view of the movement that Bin Laden tried to reshape by internationalizing it. He reveals that global jihad has only attracted a small minority within the Arab worldand and possesses no viable social and popular base. In this concise and fascinating book, Fawaz A. Gerges argues that Al-Qaeda has degenerated into a fractured, marginal body kept alive largely by the self-serving anti-terrorist bureaucracy it helped to spawn. In The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda, Gerges, a leading authority on Islamic extremism, argues that the West has become mired in a "terrorism narrative," stemming from the mistaken belief that it is in danger of a devastating attack by a crippled Al-Qaeda. To explain why Al-Qaeda is no longer a threat, he provides a briskly written history of the organization, showing its emergence from the disintegrating local jihadist movements of the mid-1990s--not the Afghan resistance of the 1980s,as many believe--in "a desperate effort to rescue a sinking ship by altering its course". During this period, Gerges interviewed many jihadis, gaining a first-hand view of the movement that Bin Laden tried to reshape by internationalizing it. He reveals that global jihad has attracted but a small minoritywithin the Arab world and possesses no viable social and popular base. Furthermore, he shows that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a major miscalculation--no "river" of fighters flooded from Arab countries to defend Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, as Bin Laden expected. Gerges concludes that the movement has splintered into feuding factions, neutralizing itself more effectively than a Predator drone. Forceful, incisive, and written with extensive inside knowledge, this book will alter the debate on global terrorism. ... a masterly and trenchant accountof the origins of al Qaeda and its decline after 9/11. Worth reading INDICE: Prologue The Politics of Terrorism Chapter 1: The Rise of al-Qa'ida Chapter 2: The Growing Rift: Near versus Far Enemy Chapter 3: A Great Success and a Monstrous Miscalculation (September 11) Chapter 4: Decline and Fall Chapter 5: Shadows and Legacies

• ISBN: 978-0-19-979065-4
• Editorial: Oxford University
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 208
• Fecha Publicación: 22/09/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés