Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al Qaeda Strategist Abu Mus'ab Al-Suri

Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al Qaeda Strategist Abu Mus'ab Al-Suri by Lia, Brynjar. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780231700306.

Despite his alleged capture in Pakistan in late 2005, Abu Musab al-Suri, a Syrian originally known as Mustafa Sethmarian Nasar, remains a potent political and ideological figure. One of the foremost theoreticians of the global jihadist movement, al-Suri trained a generation of young jihadis at al-Qaedas Afghan camps and helped to establish the organizations vast European networks. Having gained extensive military experience fighting in the Syrian Islamist insurgency of the early 1980s, he helped to shape al-Qaedas global strategy in a series of writings, including his influential Global Islamic Call. In that 1,600 page book, al-Suri outlined a broad strategy for al-Qaedas younger generation to follow and described practical ways to implement the theories and tactics of jihadi guerrilla warfare. Architect of Global Jihad is a biography of this powerful, charismatic, and prophetic individual. Examining not only the life of Al-Suri but also the world that gave rise to him, Brynjar Lia reveals al-Suris skill for maximizing the political impact of jihadi violence. Lia provides the first and only English translation of two key chapters from al-Suris Global Islamic Call and exposes his methods for building successful, autonomous cells for "individualized terrorism." Al-Suris words have inspired thousands of todays militants, making Lias carefully researched, detailed portrait required reading for students and specialists of Islamist movements and the study of contemporary forms of terrorism.