Understanding Al Qaeda: The Transformation of War

by Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou

-- Shows how we must engage with Al Qaeda to defeat terrorism -- "Mohamedou provides a much-needed secular understanding of Al Qaeda. Unlike most writers, [he] insists on understanding the changing significance of [Al Qaeda's] discourse against a histor

Genres: Middle East

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2006

Reviews

[zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry but solid political science walk through Al Qaeda's history, and motivations. Provides a refreshingly rational and scientific guide to their demands and messages to the American public. Total highlight for me was describing the willingness to kill civilians as a "democratization of responsibility" in terms of citizens responsibility to their governments foreign policy. I think it brings up a really interesting point about how non-government military groups like Al Qaeda challenge government as solely responsible for the direction of global politics. More importantly, the deliberately antagonistic twist of language brings to mind the perverted smile of Zizek.