Publication

This note clarifies al Qaeda’s current grand strategy and its implications for US national security. In doing so, the note reminds us that the strategy focuses on 1) influencing other Muslims rather than the West, 2) banishing non-believers from ‘Muslim’ lands, and 3) continuing to spread an intolerant, strict constructionist version of Sharia. Given the departure of Western forces from Iraq and their planned withdrawal from Afghanistan, it should come as no surprise that al Qaeda leaders think that at least part of their strategy is working.