CIAO DATE: 08/2009
December 2008
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
As long as the East bloc existed, military conflicts were largely determined by the policy of the USA and the USSR. Since the East-West conflict was decided in favor of the West, numerous asymmetrical conflicts have erupted around the globe in the aftermath. Terrorist conflicts have become a worldwide menace. Jihadist terrorism has spread beyond the borders of the regions in which it had its origin and has reached a global dimension.
The terrorist abuse of airliners as bombs on September 11, 2001 was a sad climax in this new asymmetrical jihadist conflict. To offset this threat requires knowledge of what motivates, feeds and sanctions jihadist terrorists and their followers. Research and analysis of the root causes and underlying conditions, motivators and enablers of terrorism including the agitation propaganda of jihadist terrorists are vital to shaping appropriate countermeasures to the threat from Islamic terrorism.
Resource link: Jihadist Terrorist Use of Strategic Communication Management Techniques [PDF] - 916K