The Evolution of Al-Qaeda Leading Up to ISIS: The New Face of Terror
The Evolution of Al-Qaeda leading up to ISIS: The New Face of Terror
Abstract
In this paper, I will focus on the evolution and current status of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization leading up to one of its more recent franchises which is known most frequently by any of three names– the Islamic States in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic States of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic States (IS) – and is more brutal than the previous versions of al-Qaeda that the world has known. After three distinguishable generations of the al-Qaeda network – generation 1.0 which includes the years before the shocking attack on New York City and Washington D.C. on September 11, 20011; generation 2.0 which ranges from the September 11th attacks to the death of al-Qaeda’s charismatic leader, Osama bin Laden in 2011; and finally, al-Qaeda generation 3.0, in which different forms of al-Qaeda-based terrorist syndicates2, or lone wolves3, are active around the globe. In addition to its organizational transition, their modus operandi and ideology have also changed in various ways. One of the successful reforms was the formation of the ISIS group, the more heinous version of the “core” al-Qaeda whose leaders have turned against ISIS. Although the original al-Qaeda network has lost notoriety, it is still known that its offshoot cell-groups and lone wolves throughout the world continue to commit frequent acts of violence to the non-Muslim countries, especially the West and Israel, unless they are stopped by an outside force. Hence, it is of great importance to examine what lies ahead for the two individual groups in light of the al-Qaeda’s versions to date.
The September 11, 2001 attacks were a turning point in the perception of terrorist groups and their merciless attacks. Many counter-terrorism departments4 and policies were created during the “Global War on Terrorism” (Horwitz, S 2014; Howard, R., & Sawyer, R. 2006:435). As a matter of fact, the world had known smaller-scale
Abstract
In this paper, I will focus on the evolution and current status of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization leading up to one of its more recent franchises which is known most frequently by any of three names– the Islamic States in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic States of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic States (IS) – and is more brutal than the previous versions of al-Qaeda that the world has known. After three distinguishable generations of the al-Qaeda network – generation 1.0 which includes the years before the shocking attack on New York City and Washington D.C. on September 11, 20011; generation 2.0 which ranges from the September 11th attacks to the death of al-Qaeda’s charismatic leader, Osama bin Laden in 2011; and finally, al-Qaeda generation 3.0, in which different forms of al-Qaeda-based terrorist syndicates2, or lone wolves3, are active around the globe. In addition to its organizational transition, their modus operandi and ideology have also changed in various ways. One of the successful reforms was the formation of the ISIS group, the more heinous version of the “core” al-Qaeda whose leaders have turned against ISIS. Although the original al-Qaeda network has lost notoriety, it is still known that its offshoot cell-groups and lone wolves throughout the world continue to commit frequent acts of violence to the non-Muslim countries, especially the West and Israel, unless they are stopped by an outside force. Hence, it is of great importance to examine what lies ahead for the two individual groups in light of the al-Qaeda’s versions to date.
The September 11, 2001 attacks were a turning point in the perception of terrorist groups and their merciless attacks. Many counter-terrorism departments4 and policies were created during the “Global War on Terrorism” (Horwitz, S 2014; Howard, R., & Sawyer, R. 2006:435). As a matter of fact, the world had known smaller-scale
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