Customer Reviews

Understanding Terror Networks

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On balance this book is a very fine review of the actual background and motivations of over 150 members of four specific terrorist networks: the Central Staff around Osama bin Laden, the Core Arabs, the Maghred Arabs, and the Southeast Asians.

The author, who does have intelligence experience and is not just an ordinary foreign service officer, gets high marks for making excellent use of open sources of information, for emphasizing the role of Egypt as a source of terrorism and Israeli behavior against Palestine as the primary catalyst for terrorism now directed against Americans and other Western nations (and recently, Asian nations), and for documenting the distinction between the near enemy (corrupt Muslim regimes) and the far enemy (the West), a distinction all the more relevant because US actions against Iraq brought the far enemy near, and changed the dynamics of the global war on terrorism in favor of the terrorists.

Pages 65-68 offer a superb overview of the nuances of open sources of information, including a useful caveat on "experts" that are only as good as their discipline in seeking out and validating the sources they claim as their foundation. From my own role as a former spy and now global proponent for improved use of open sources of information to product open source intelligence, I regard the author's methodical review of sources and their dangers to be among the very best I have ever seen. His details on press misinformation and the laziness of journalists, and his understanding of how many "leads" about terrorists are actually more sinister and selfish efforts to settle personal scores by fabricating the leads to destroy others using American power, are clear signs that this author is a top-notch professional.

In general the book and the original research by the author confirm what earlier scholars of revolution (Chalmers Johnson, Ted Gurr, Eckstein, among others) have documented in the past, to wit that most top-notch terrorists are middle-class, smart, educated beyond the norm, and grow into their motivation. They are *not* crazy and suicide is a rational choice for them, not an aberrant behavior.

I found the author's observation that recruitment is a bottom-up self-selected process rather than a top-down "seek out and recruit" process, quite fascinating, especially when the author makes the point that these people are NOT brainwashed. This is about a conflict of ideas, of ideals, of perception, and of context, and America is clearly not able to field the "idea army" and is not able to be competitive with Bin Laden in the war for the hearts and minds of these hundreds of thousands of prospective terrorists.

Most importantly, the author documents that Bin Laden is not your typical terrorist, is not seeking a controlled network, and is perhaps most brilliant for letting thousands of cells blossom with a little financial nurturing and a lot of social liberty.

The author documents the return of kinship as a source of power--kinship and social networking as means of organizing, as means of providing security, as means of radicalizing supporters.

The book is disappointing in two respects--a cursory conclusion as to how to marshal global resources against their severe threat, and no reference to the Pakistani and Hamas variants of terrorism, nor to the overlapping networking of ethnic criminal, corrupt government, and motivated terrorist networks.

For those interested in understanding the terrorist threat at the individual level of detail, I recommend this book together with Yossef Bodansky's classic on "Bin Laden: the Man Who Declared War on America" and Steve Emerson's more recent "American Jihad." However, for a broader strategic understanding of the emerging threats and the reasons why billions are increasingly against America, I suggest the Amazon customer consider the several books in my Emerging Threats List and my Blowback List ("see more about me" should really say "see my other reviews and specific lists").

I believe this author has more to offer, and would be interested in a second book from him, one that answers the specific question: "How must America behave, what pathologies of American corporate and government action must be corrected, if we are to live in peace with billions of faithful Muslims?" The author has helped us understand the core of the terrorist networks that are capable of bringing down America. Now it might be helpful if he turns his medical eye on our own mind-sets, and tells us how to heal ourselves.

Sageman's 'Understanding Terror Networks' is probably the best primer on the global salafist movement. The author begins with the 'Origins of the Jihad,' tracing the importance of ibn Taymiyya, Sayyid Qutb, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc. and does an excellent job of framing the movement in its historical context. In the next four chapters, Sageman discusses 'The Evolution of the Jihad,' 'The Mujahedin,' 'Joining the Jihad,' and 'Social Networks and the Jihad.' Other reviewers have mentioned some of the major take-aways from the book, however I believe that this book needs to be read in its entirety.

Sageman does a fantastic job of debunking the myths propogated by the talking heads in the media, and enlightening readers with empirical analysis.

I point interested readers to Hoffman's 'Inside Terrorism,' Anonymous's 'Through our Enemies' Eyes.'

A superb analysis with a substantial bibliography for further reading.

'Understanding Terror Networks' is a gem. Buy it!

A Superior Book! Mark Sageman's Understanding Terrorist Networks is really a ground breaking analysis of Al Qaeda's networks and personalities, not just run of the mill terrorist groups. The psychological breakdown of the membership is excellent and truely helpful to any professional in the field. I found only one conclusion in the empirical data I didn't agree with because it is an academic study rather than an intelligence agency study (i.e I believe there are more than four major sub-groups of Al Qeada, as many as 10, organized by a designated geographic command system and special mission teams versus an ethnographic association (the Maghrebs, Core Arabs, Arab Command and SE Asians ... but his identification of the four core groups of members in the network is fascinating and correct). This book is clearly one of the best studys of Al Qaeda and will be mandatory reading for my students. It is a model for future analytical studies. One suggestion, change the second edition name to Understanding Al Qaeda's Terrorist Networks.

3 yrs post 9-11 the study of terrorism has matured as has our understanding of Al Qaeda (AQ) and the global Salafi Jihad which it fostered and supports. Nowhere have I seen that informed perspective better reflected than in this book. The author presents the most ordered and easily understandable big picture account of the rise of modern Jihadism that I've yet read. While Kepel's excellent work (Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam) details the mechanics of the political/cultural context of the movements rise, this book gives a quick cogent yet surprisingly sufficient and accurate overview. I've read enough on the subject to know that Sageman is on target with his analysis and history. Many earlier works read like fragmented catalogues of facts, grasping for cogency. That is understandable, as most of us came into this game late, and are playing catch up. It is yet the more understandable, and challenging, as AQ itself continues to evolve and connipt.
There are many books out there on all things terrorism related. If you're looking for a "big picture" overview of the subject, my advice is: instead of reading three or four of the others, buy this one and read it twice. It's that good.

Unfortunately, I missed Mr. Sageman when he visited Europe, but some friends had the chance to speak with him and they praised his work. That lead me to read his book. It is a concise and highly readable volume regarding terrorist demographics, recruitment, networking, history of the Salafist Jihad and other baseline facts on the threat. While studying at Syracuse, I saw how similar Social Science research efforts tackled the myths surrounding other military, guerrilla, and terrorist groups throughout history. That well-grounded approach alone makes this book a "must" for any serious library on the topic.

This is a very detailed book on the rise and make up of Muslim terrorism that covers the subject very well and challenges the stereotype of what type of person makes up a terrorist. Through detailed analysis of known terrorists utilizing charts and graphs, the author clearly indicates that the assumed sterotype of a terrorist is not valid. However, they are virtually clannish making it very hard to penetrate. The author also covers how the various movements particularly from Egypt and Al Qaeda merged and expanded globally. The book is compact but is relatively technical and the detail and complexity of the organizations may require one with less familiarity to take notes to refer to as you go along in regards to names and organizations. This book is for an advanced reader who is very familar with the topic.

An outstanding book that provides the reader not only with the structure of terror networks, but also information as to why and how individuals and groups join the global jihad. Based on extensive research of known terrorists, the author, in my opinion, has drawn the proper conclusions and supports each of his claims in an easily understood manner.

I especially liked the author's attempts to provide feasible actions that the government should consider to better attack these networks and improve the security of our nation. Additionally, I found the author's description of the type of individuals (age, marital status, education level etc.) that join these terrorist networks extremely interesting and surprising.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fresh look inside the terrorist networks.

Sageman brings a great deal of insight to his examination of the behavior of individuals and groups within terror networks. The book is very strong as advertised: an empirical examination of how terrorists relate to each other, and a series of logical conclusions given the available data as to how such networks originate and act.

Small weaknesses: some of the more tangential discussions within this book are relatively bereft of citation, and those parts tend to be correspondingly weak arguments (such as the straw man about ISI funding). Additionally (and in conjunction with that), Sageman's analysis of JI's situation is dated and has been proven inaccurate - instead of disappearing, it has tended to adapt in much the same way as the rest of the global jihadists (International Crisis Group has a great report on Noordin Mohamed Top's networks throughout Indonesia, as of Jan 07). Sageman might be able to argue that the jihad has changed to a more local form, despite the bombings of the J.W. Marriott in Jakarta in 03, the Australian Embassy in 04, and the second Bali bombing in 05, all related to Top's network... but the ICG report argues it is merely a more autonomous cell than previously known in Indonesia, and the danger is that more low-level cells will take up the fight (additionally, Ba'asyir was never sentenced for more than a few years, and thus never 'out of play' as Sageman treated him). Several of the ICG reports also list Southeast Asians and their ties. Many of them are not connected heirarchically through Pondok Ngruki or the Malaysian school, as Sageman states, but rather through training in Afghanistan or actions (jihads) in Maluku or Poso.

I wouldn't say that this book is any sort of substitute for a thorough history of global jihadist terrorism (recommend Jason Burke's 'Al Qaeda', though it pays little attention to Southeast Asia, for which you could suppliment with Maria Ressa's more sensational but still illuminating book 'Seeds of Terror'). I would say that it is essential reading for ANY law enforcement, community members, or mosque-goers who might be on the alert for terror suspects.

Overall, it is VERY strong for, as advertised: "Understanding Terror Networks."
(Just ignore the parts about JI).

I heard Marc speak at a JIEDDO conference last Fall and decided to get his book. I was impressed that he was the only outside expert invited to speak at this conference. His book is very informative. It is probably one of the best books out there in terms of understanding terrorist networks, and how new members are recruited. This is a must read if you need to know or are just curious about what drives someone to become a part of such an organization. Be prepared to put aside your preconceived notions as he dispels many myths about what motivates such individuals. You will be surprised to find that the common terrorist is not some mentally disturbed religious fanatic but a fairly ordinary family man. Marc makes plenty of disclaimers regarding how general his conclusions are due to the limited sample size of his study, but I think that one can safely draw several general conclusions from his excellent research and insight.

2004's "Understanding Terror Networks" is a detailed look at al-Qaeda and its associated networks, the new Mujahedin of radical Islam. Author Marc Sageman is a Doctor of Psychiatry and Sociology, with intelligence and foreign service experience in the effort to expel the Soviets from Afghanistan in the 1980's. Using open source data, he examines a large sampling of information on individual terrorists to determine what makes them tick and how they network. The end result is far more useful than the anecdote-based journalism that fills bookstores.

Sageman documents that the typical Islamic terrorist is a young man from a loving middle class family, often well-educated, who becomes alienated through work or study in a foreign country or even a large city in the Middle East. He reaches out to fellow Muslims, typically some combination of kin and close friends, for a sense of identity and belonging. For those few who become terrorists, a combination of exposure to a radical Islamic message, reinforced by his bonds with fellow radicals, is coupled with access to the Mujahedin for training and direction. The popular image of the poor, uneducated, psychotic suicide bomber does not survive Sageman's analysis.

Sageman also identifies the hubs of the current Mujahedin movement, the Central Staff around Osama bin Laden, the Southeast Asia group, the Magreb group from North Africa, and the Core Arab group from Egypt and the Saudi Peninsula. He traces the nature of the networks that link these groupings and how bin Laden has expertly exploited these connections to carry out his particular jihad. The loose, self-recruiting nature of the various groups and their general lack of a rigid hierarchy makes them hard to find and harder to eliminate. On the other hand, the dependence on communications within the groups and with the major hubs makes them vulnerable to attack, as recent U.S. and allied efforts have succeeded in disrupting or defeating a number of plots since 9/11. Sageman provides some suggestions in his conclusion for more focused intelligence and law enforcement efforts against the terror networks.

"Understanding Terror Networks" is very highly recommended to the intelligence, military, or law enforcement professional seeking a better understanding of our terrorist opponents. Sageman's prose tends to be quite dry, but the persistent reader will be well-rewarded.