000 01296cam a2200133 4500
100 1 _aABRAHMS Max
245 _aAl Qaeda's miscommunication war: the terrorism paradox
260 _c2005
520 _aThe Bush administration's response to the September 11 attacks has rendered more urgent Al Qaeda's stated objective to eject the U.S. from the Middle East. The aim here is not to evaluate the direction of the war on terrorism, but to explore why Al Qaeda has been so unsuccessful in capitalising on its political violence. The article begins with the premise that terrrorism is a communication strategy. It contends that Al Qaeda's policy failures are due to its inability to convince Bush that it would refrain from attacking Americans if the U.S. moderated its Middle East policies. Borrowing from the literature in political psychology and perception and misperception in international relations, the article offers several explanations for Al Qaeda's ineffectiveness in getting this message across. The article concludes by deriving general observations about the limitations of terrorism as aform of political communication.
650 _aAL QAEDA
690 _aTerrorism
773 _aTerrorism and Political Violence:
_gVol 17 No 4 Autumn 2005, pp.529-549 (116)
945 _i19452-1001
_rY
_sY
999 _c5451
_d5451