Publication

This paper traces and assesses al-Qaeda's efforts to launch an insurgency in Saudi Arabia from the mid-1990s until today. It examines the background of Osama bin Ladin’s 1996 declaration of jihad, al-Qaeda’s activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 2002, and the causes and evolution of the campaign waged by the group "al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula" (AQAP) from 2003 to 2006. The paper argues that despite the widespread view of Saudi Arabia as “al-Qaeda country,” and despite the recent developments in Yemen, the jihad in Saudi Arabia has so far failed.