Anne Stenersen:
Al-Qaida’s Quest for Weapons of Mass Destruction: The history behind the hype
(Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag, 2009)

Ever since the late 1990s, it has been claimed that the threat of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) terrorism from al-Qaida is real and growing. This book explores al-Qaida’s interest in CBRN weapons, as reflected by statements and activities on various levels within the network between 1996-2007. Drawing on the author's extensive collection of al-Qaida CBRN-manuals, online discussions and 'chatter' on CBRN-related themes, the author finds that a high level of amateurism has characterised al/Qaida's efforts in this field. The book is aimed at students, scholars, and practitioners with an interest in the topics of CBRN terrorism and militant Islamism, and is of particular interest to professionals within the counter-terrorism community. Read more..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brynjar Lia:
Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaeda Strategist Abu Mus'ab Al-Suri
(London and New York: Hurst & Columbia University Press, 2008)

Despite his alleged capture in Pakistan in late 2005, Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, a Syrian originally known as Mustafa Sethmarian Nasar, remains a potent political and ideological figure. Al-Suri trained a generation of young jihadis at al-Qaeda's Afghan camps and helped establish the organisation's European networks. Having gained extensive military experience fighting in the Syrian Islamist insurgency of the early 1980s, he helped to shape al-Qaeda's global strategy in a series of writings, including his influential Global Islamic Resistance Call. In this 1,600 page book, Al-Suri outlines a broad strategy for al-Qaeda's younger generation to follow and describes practical ways to implement the theories and tactics of jihadi guerrilla warfare. In Architect of Global Jihad, Brynjar Lia translates two key chapters from Al-Suri's Global Islamic Resistance Call and exposes his methods for maximising the political impact of jihadi violence and building successful, autonomous cells for "individualised terrorism". Al-Suri's words have inspired many of today's militants, making Lia's detailed portrait required reading for students and specialists of Islamist movements and the study of contemporary forms of terrorism. Read more..

Gilles Kepel, Jean-Pierre Milelli, Omar Saghi, Stephane Lacroix and Thomas Hegghammer:  

Al-Qaida dans le texte
(Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2005).

Al Qaeda in its Own Words
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008).

Thomas Hegghammer has co-authored a book in French containing translations of ideological texts by Usama bin Ladin, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abdallah Azzam, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, supplemented by in-depth textual commentary and biographical chapters. A German translation has already been published (Texte des Terrors [Munchen: Piper-Verlag, 2006]), and an English version (Al Qaeda in Its Own Words) was released in April 2008. Read more..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brynjar Lia:

Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism: Patterns and Predictions
(London: Routledge, 2005/2006).

This book offers new perspectives on how globalisation and broader structural causes produce and drive terrorism across the globe in differing contexts. Read more..

 

"An impressive tour d'horizon, methodologically sound, well-argued and convincing in its conclusion"
— Professor Alex P. Schmid, UN Terrorism Prevention Branch, Vienna

 

— Dr Magnus Ranstorp, University of St Andrews

 

 

 

 

Brynjar Lia:
The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt 1928-1942: The Rise of an Islamic Mass Movement

(Reading: Ithaca Press, 1998).

This book examines the rise of the mother organization of all modern Islamist movements, the Society of the
Muslim Brothers in Egypt.

It explores the socio-economic and cultural factors which facilitated the movement’s expansion and analyses the keys to its success – its organization, internal structure, modes of action and recruitment techniques as well as its ideological and class appeal. Read more..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Jihadi Salafis or Revolutionaries: On Religion and Politics in the Study of Islamist Militancy", in R Meijer (ed), Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement, (London/New York: Hurst/Columbia University Press, 2009), pp. 244-266. By Thomas Hegghammer

"The Ideological Hybridization of Jihadi Groups", Current Trends in Islamist Ideology 9 (November 2009). By Thomas Hegghammer

"The Big Impact of Small Footprints", ForeignPolicy.com, 11 November 2009. By Thomas Hegghammer

"Al-Qaidas fotsoldater i Afghanistan". Published in Norsk Militært Tidsskrift, nr. 4/2009. By Anne Stenersen.

 

"Islamist opposition in the Islamic Republic: Jundullah and the spread of extremist Deobandism in Iran"
FFI Research Report No.2009/01265. By Audun Kolstad Wiig.

"Are the Afghan Taliban Involved in International Terrorism?", CTC Sentinel, 2, 9 (September 2009). By Anne Stenersen.

 

"Truer verden med terrorangrep". Kronikk om internasjonal terrorisme av Brynjar Lia og Thomas Hegghammer i Dagsavisen, 15 august 2009, s-38-39.

Book review of Laurent Murawiec, The Mind of Jihad. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008, published in Times Higher Education, 11 June 2009. By Thomas Hegghammer

 

”Islamic Jihad Union: al-Qaida’s Key to the Turkic World?”. FFI Research Report No.2009/00687. By Einar Wigen. (Kjeller: The Norwegian Defence Reserch Est. (FFI), 2009).

 

"Irreparable Damage", Op-Ed by Thomas Hegghammer in Foreign Policy, 5 May 2009.

 

A round-table seminar jointly organized by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Sciences Po (France) and Combating Terrorism C-enter/West Point (USA), was held at the Holmenkollen Park Hotel Rica in Oslo on 19-21 March 2009. See program (pdf) and summaries of the seminar here and here. The following papers were presented by FFI research staff:

 

 

"Whither Al-Qaida? Assessing Its Ideological Evolution and Its Struggle to Stay Relevant in Local Insurgencies". FFI's Terrorism Research Group organised a panel at The Annual International Studies Association Convention (ISA) in New York, 14-18 February 2009, during which the following papers were presented:

• "Blood Brothers or a Marriage of Convenience? The Ideological Relationship between al-Qaida and the Taliban". By Anne Stenersen
• "Ideological influences and patterns of Jihadism in Europe". By Petter Nesser.
• "Which Jihad in Iraq?" By Truls Hallberg Tønnessen
• "Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb: Ideological Dissent in the Algerian Jihad". By Hanna Rogan 
• "Does al-Qaida Articulate a Consistent Strategy? A Study of al-Qaida Leadership Statements, 2001-2008". By Brynjar Lia 

"The Struggle Within", review of the documentary film "Recycle", The National, 13 February 2009. By Thomas Hegghammer