Techreport,
Observing Al Qaeda Through the Lens of Complexity Theory: Recommendations for the National Strategy to Defeat Terrorism
U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania 17013, (2004)
Abstract
Al Qaeda's attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September
11th, 2003 showed the World that a complex network of individuals
small groups and organizations coupled by a common sense of purpose
and enabled by globalization could deliver a devastating attack
upon the most powerful nation on Earth. This paper examines al Qaeda
through the lens of Complexity Theory which shows that this organization
is a complex adaptive system that emerged as an agent of change
within the strategic system of nation states. To defeat al Qaeda
or other complex global *terrorist* *networks* traditional military
strategies reliant on nation state frameworks and determination
of centers of gravity and decisive points may not be sufficient.
Using the characteristics of Complexity Theory this paper identifies
major inputs to expand the current strategy to defeat terrorism.
This strategy is focused on diminishing the *terrorist* *network*'s
recuperative and propagative characteristics enabling the emergence
of alternatives to terrorism and redressing the sources of anti-Americanism
which fuels the network.
