World Politics Review

In this set of WPR analyses, the agenda seems to be, "let us try another framework to understand what is happening, since a global war is more than we can conceive of at this time"

Nathan Field especially proposes that al Qaeda's recruiting ability is really fed by the Poor, the Hungry, the disenfranchised and that the war on terror will not ever address these issues.

For those who keep trying this line of discussion,

Consider these three and frequently overlooked concepts when you write again:

• Understand the concept of the Da'wa of Taqiyya as it relates to al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood
• Understand the organization of the Musim Brotherhood, their written goals and objectives
• Understand that this is a matter of faith. There are many who, when given perfect economic opportunity, perfect opportunity for enlightened engagement, when highly educated in the West seek, destruction of the west out of faith and principle.

Your sound reasoning will not prevail in such a place in time and space. The West and those that believe in such a way, are at war. Whether the West started it or not, wants it or not, or believes it or not.

-Shimron Issachar

WPR Feature: The Al-Qaida We Don't Know

The Editors 28 Oct 2008World Politics Review Exclusive

Ten years after al-Qaida declared war against the U.S., and seven years after the U.S. followed suit, much of what we know about the group is filtered through the lens of the Global War on Terror, a rubric that hides and distorts as much as it reveals. But in reducing al-Qaida to a terrorist organization, we have ignored the broader socio-cultural movement it represents.

The result has been to overlook the range of its activities on the one hand, while exaggerating its strategic outlook on the other.To formulate a sound strategic response to al-Qaida, we must first have a clear understanding of just what kind of enemy it is.

To provide a fuller picture of the group's origins and goals, its future prospects, as well as the conventional component of its activities, WPR examines the Al-Qaida We Don't Know.

In The 055 Brigade, Brian Glyn Williams of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and an expert witness in the military commission hearing of Salim Hamdan, discusses the little-known history of al-Qaida's conventional fighting force.

In AQIM, the North African Franchise, Joseph Kirschke examines the potential threat posed by local al-Qaida franchises, as well as the challenges they face.

In The Limits of the Counterterrorism Approach, Nathan Field examines the historical origins and socio-economic context of al-Qaida to determine its strategic outlook.

The Rest @ World Politics Review