Al-Qaeda - Organization

Organization

Al-Qaeda's management philosophy has been described as "centralization of decision and decentralization of execution." It is thought that al-Qaeda's leadership, following the War on Terror, has "become geographically isolated", leading to the "emergence of decentralized leadership" of regional groups using the al-Qaeda "brand".

Many terrorism experts do not believe that the global jihadist movement is driven at every level by al-Qaeda's leadership. Although bin Laden still held considerable ideological sway over some Muslim extremists before his death, experts argue that al-Qaeda has fragmented over the years into a variety of regional movements that have little connection with one another. Marc Sageman, a psychiatrist and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, said that al-Qaeda is now just a "loose label for a movement that seems to target the West". "There is no umbrella organisation. We like to create a mythical entity called in our minds, but that is not the reality we are dealing with."

This view mirrors the account given by Osama bin Laden in his October 2001 interview with Tayseer Allouni:

"...this matter isn't about any specific person and...is not about the al-Qai`dah Organization. We are the children of an Islamic Nation, with Prophet Muhammad as its leader, our Lord is one...and all the true believers are brothers. So the situation isn't like the West portrays it, that there is an 'organization' with a specific name (such as 'al-Qai`dah') and so on. That particular name is very old. It was born without any intention from us. Brother Abu Ubaida... created a military base to train the young men to fight against the vicious, arrogant, brutal, terrorizing Soviet empire... So this place was called 'The Base', as in a training base, so this name grew and became. We aren't separated from this nation. We are the children of a nation, and we are an inseparable part of it, and from those public demonstrations which spread from the far east, from the Philippines, to Indonesia, to Malaysia, to India, to Pakistan, reaching Mauritania... and so we discuss the conscience of this nation."

Others, however, see al-Qaeda as an integrated network that is strongly led from the Pakistani tribal areas and has a powerful strategic purpose. Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said "It amazes me that people don't think there is a clear adversary out there, and that our adversary does not have a strategic approach."

Al-Qaeda has the following direct affiliates:

  • Al-Qaeda in Iraq
  • Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb
  • Al-Shabaab (Mujahideen Youth Movement) in Somalia
  • Egyptian Islamic Jihad* Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which comprises
    • Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and
    • Islamic Jihad of Yemen

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