The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future - Softcover

Riedel, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815704518 ISBN 13: 9780815704515

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2010

Synopsis

Al Qaeda is the most dangerous terrorist movement in history. Yet most people in the West know very little about it, or their view is clouded by misperceptions and half truths. This widely acclaimed book fills this gap with a comprehensive analysis of al Qaeda—the origins, leadership, ideology, and strategy of the terrorist network that brought down the Twin Towers and continues to threaten us today.

Bruce Riedel draws on decades of insider experience—he was actually in the White House during the September 11 attacks—in profiling the four most important figures in the al Qaeda movement: Usama bin Laden, ideologue and spokesman Ayman Zawahiri, former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musaib al Zarqawi (killed in 2006), and Mullah Omar, its Taliban host. These profiles provide the base from which Riedel delivers a much clearer understanding of al Qaeda and its goals, as well as what must be done to counter and defeat this most dangerous menace.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He served in the U.S. intelligence community for nearly thirty years, and at the request of President Obama, he chaired an interagency review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan for the White House that was completed in March 2009.

Review

"Riedel manages to distill the essence of al Qaeda in just 150 pages."— New York Times Book Review

"Riedel's argument in favor of greater U.S. involvement in the Arab-Israeli peace process is persuasive, and his prescriptions are well-evidenced, unfailingly sound, and refreshingly sensible."— Publishers Weekly

" The Search for al Qaeda is in parts alarming and in parts reassuring.... In a literature tending towards either the blithe or the fatalistic, Riedel's book stands out."— Financial Times

""[Riedel] understands al Qaeda for what it is: a set of highly effective leaders who have created a compelling narrative (based partly on American missteps in the Muslim world) and a remarkably resilient organizational structure that seduces a small group of young Muslims to destroy in a highly strategic manner."—Eboo Patel, Washington Post "On Faith"

"Provides several sensible recommendations, such as making a renewed effort to settle the festering disputes over Palestine and Kashmir."— The Economist

"The useful information, wide-ranging knowledge, and important insight within this short book are extremely impressive. A reader cannot help thinking that U.S. leaders were well-served by Riedel's analysis throughout his years in government (even in cases where it was not heeded)."— Parameters

Edition details

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0815704518
• ISBN 13: 9780815704515
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 197