The Evolution of the Global Terrorist Threat: From 9/11 to Osama bin Laden’s Death

The 12th volume of Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare series is not aimed at lay readers; the anthology consists of 25 detailed essays by leading scholars that focus on the degree to which terror attacks after September 11 were orchestrated by al-Qaeda. Hoffman, director of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, and Reinares, senior analyst on global terrorism at Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid, aim to answer “whether a leaderless process of terrorist radicalization and violence had superseded a leader-led one.” It’s a question vital to the development of effective counterterrorism strategies, and the contributors effectively rebut those who minimize the continued potency of al-Qaeda, even following the death of its most notorious leader. For example, Hoffman presents intriguing evidence that the 2005 London bombings were not “entirely an organic or homegrown phenomenon of self-radicalized, self-selected terrorists.” Non-experts will be justifiably unsettled by the editors’ conclusion that “the final battle against al-Qaeda has not yet been fought and that, in coming years, the movement may assume new and different forms that cannot be anticipated.” [em](Nov.) [/em]