Islamist Networks (The Ceri Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies) - Hardcover

Al Qaida was unable to realize its lethal potential until it found sanctuary in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden fled after being expelled from Sudan. But why was the network's sanctuary not attacked before September 2001, especially after the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998? Abou Zahab and Roy argue that the Taliban was part of a much wider radical Islamist network in the region, whose true center was Pakistan, not Afghanistan. Al Qaida, the Taliban, the Pakistani Deobandis - all of these groups are based in Pakistan, which continues to serve as the regional hub for Islamist movements and their terrorist offshoots. This indispensable book investigates and explains the almost twenty-five-year gestation of these interlinked radical Islamist networks of Pakistan, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, out of which Al Qaida emerged. Taking into account the networks' divergent histories and doctrinal rifts, the authors lay bare the political contingencies that enabled these disparate Islamist movements to coordinate with the aim of attacking what became their common adversary: the United States.

"Tackling historical complexities and scholarly references to illuminate cultural and religious motivations, Mariam Abou Zahab and Olivier Roy create a blow-by-blow account of jihadist movements and their relationship with American and secular power." -- Middle East Journal "This work is a gold mine for insights into the little-understood world of Islamist ideologies." -- Caleb M. Bartley, University of Reading, Comparative Strategy "[Islamist Networks is] interested not in grand ideas but in the details of Al-Qaeda's recruitment and support networks [using] biographies of individual terrorists and obscure Al-Qaeda-linked groups to explain the movement's evolving structure. By this path the authors challenge some poorly examined assumptions of familiar public debates." -- Steve Coll, Washington Post Book World "This excellent study will serve as a valuable reference book to those interested in radical Islamic Movements... Highly recommended." -- Choice