Al-Qaeda – Annotated Bibliography

Terrorism is one of the major challenges facing governments in the world. The world is currently experiencing global and local terrorisms which have highly been strengthened by Muslims radicalization and formation of terrorist networks.  Al-Qaeda is one of radicalized Muslim groups whose mission is to promote terrorism against the western nations. The group has managed to develop a wide international network that eases their central terrorism activities. Al-Qaeda has been connected with various major attacks in the world which include the 9/11 American attack which was the worse in the American soil in history. This and other terrorism threats and attacks have highly impacted life of people in the society. This paper provide annotated bibliography of materials that assist in discussing how Al-Qaeda hasorganized terribly violent acts to induce terror on American soil  and how radical Islamic terrorist attacks causes social climate of distrust and fear to arise amongst the citizens of the United States.

Hoffam, B. (2003). Al-Qaeda, trends in terrorism, and future potentialities: An assessment. Washington, DC: The Rand Corporation.

The article evaluates current terrorism trends and its future abilities. It assesses the presumed al-Qaeda states today with specific reference to its probable agenda in a post-Iraq war. The paper also more extensively centers on some main modern terrorist trends so as to better comprehend how terrorism is transitioning and what the changes of these implications are with regard to probable future patterns and attacks. The paper evaluates the al-Qaeda status today and the effect of the Iraq war has on it. It also evaluates how the future potentiality of al-Qaeda is communicated by the extensive trends of terrorism today and how we should perceive terrorism today and in the future. This paper gives more information on what al-Qaeda, its network in the world, and their actions at international levels and how they propagate them. This article will be used to expand more information on al-Qaeda and how they operate in accomplishing their terrorism objectives.

Huddy, L., Feldman, S., Capelos, T., & Provost, C. (2002). The consequences of terrorism: Disentangling the effects of personal and national threat. PoliticalPsychology, 23(3), 485-509.

This article discusses how the 9/11 incident changed American perception of terrorism and the impact the act created on the life of the American people. The incident is normally described as the most horrific terrorism attack on American soil. It success changed the aspect of perceived national and individual risk to terrorist threat. It also increased the need for individuals to always assess the national threats, how these threats can impact their lives and measures the government has employed to minimize the threats. According to the paper, the 9/11 incident brought about social and economic consequences, which resulted to change of behaviors among the citizens while going about their normal business. The attack increased individuals’ fear of sudden attacks in the future, economic and social losses. According to the people American terrorism fear varies based on the security climate in the country which is measured based on by the number of reported threats, attacks or attempt on American in foreign lands, or attack of other neighboring countries. This paper will inform the research paper on the impact that terrorism have on American life both socially and economically. It will also contribute more information on and how their continuous actions in and outside American influence individual social life.

Ioana, I. (2015). The terrorism and its psychological effects.National Defense University, Bucharest: Romania.

This paper discusses how terrorism which is highly propagated by al-Qaeda instills fear in people and how constant reporting of terrorist incidents by the media promotes their acts by creating panic. According to the article terrorism is importantly a weapon which relies on threat transmission to general public, as opinion of public is the main factor which can push political actors to meet the power demand of terrorists. The article also demonstrates that terrorism is not just a threat to international and national security but also an attack on people’s psychological welfare. The paper focuses more on demonstrating how terrorism impact people’s psychological wellbeing by creating anxiety, fear, and distrust in the public. Their constant attacks in different parts of the world are meant to attract the media as a way of propagating this fear always. This paper will be used to demonstrate how al-Qaeda terrorist actions impact public psychological welfare, interfering with their normal social, and economic live by forcing them limit their movement and investments due to fear of losses and other damages.

Jenkins, B. M., &Godges, J. P. (2011).The long shadow of 9/11: American’s response to terrorism. Rand Cooperation.Retrieved from <http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG1107.pdf>

This is a book that revisits the 9/11 incident where the United States experienced the worst terrorism hit in its soil. The incident was quite shocking and it subjected the citizens into great fear and distrusts of Muslims especially those from Arabic nationality. The US got to understand that Osama Bin Laden’s war declaration on American in 1996 was not just empty words. The book clearly describes how this major incident created fear and feeling of vulnerability among American citizen who were previously very confident on their security system. The book reflect on the damages this particular attack had on American people especially on their entrustment of the country security system in guaranteeing them maximum and reliable security. It also gives measure the United States took and has been taking to restore the public trust on security issues which include an attempt to completely destroy the al-Qaeda network. This book will make a great contribution in informing the research on the major terrorist act in the US and how it influence the life of its residents socially, and psychologically among other aspects.

Lee, K. (2015). Does Al Qaeda central still matter? UNISCI Journal, 37, 15-48.

This article focuses more on discussing the al-Qaeda giving a deep history about the group formation and its mission in both domestic and international terrorism. The article gives systematic review of major changes and events that have taken place in the group and how the United States government has been fighting hard to sabotage its main terrorism efforts especially in American soil. The main aim of the paper is to determine its central activities especially in propagating the US attacks and how the turn of events have changed their cause of action or slowed them down. The paper also explains the concept of jihadism and Muslim radicalization and how they have contributed to the growth and expansion of al-Qaeda group. The concept of the employment of affiliate groups in propagating attacks, and how the affiliation has played a great part in helping the group achieve its international missions is also discussed. This paper will be used to expand the knowledge on al-Qaeda and its operations and action in different parts of the world. It will also assist in informing the research on what aided the group to conduct successful attack of its kind in America in 2001

Stibli, F. (2010).Terrorism in the context of globalization.AARMS, 9(1), 1-7.

This article gives a clear overview of how terrorism has been influencing life of people in different parts of the world. In this article the writer give the international and local view of terrorism. The paper also gives detailed information of the main propagators of terrorism who are al-Qaeda group. The writer provides the definition of al-Qaeda, their network internationally,   and their effort in destroying America among other countries in the world. It also digs deep into the powers that derive terrorists into performing their action and how they use these powers to ensure that they get the public reaction they anticipate when imposing such reactions. The article also focuses on how the expansion of terrorist attacks and the constant fear of sudden attacks in American soil impose negative energy among the public. This results to development of public panic, and fear. This paper will be used to add to information about al-Qaeda, their terrorism actions and plans, and the impact those actions have on the life of American population.

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