Al Qaeda as a System
Abstract
With the correct military strategy, the U.S. military can provide the main effort to win the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Col. John Warden's five-ring model could be useful in determining target sets for that effort. Col. Warden developed the five-ring model to analyze the sources of power of an enemy and target those sources of power for disruption or destruction. The author briefly reviews Col. Warden's five-ring theory, which includes leadership, organic essentials, infrastructure, population, and fielded forces as five parts of a system. The five main rings contain subsystems that are unique to each system. Although some strategists believe that the five-ring model is applicable only to nation-states, Col. Warden suggests that it is applicable to non-state organizations as well, such as terrorist organizations, even though the target sets and the instruments of national power to affect those target sets may be different from those of nation-states. Also, some people believe that Col. Warden's five-ring theory applies only to aerial bombing. This paper demonstrates that it does not. The author also contends that a terrorist organization can be analyzed as a system because to wage violence a terrorist organization still requires sources of power and logistics. He uses the five-ring model to analyze the al Qaeda terrorist network.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 15, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA449161
Entities
People
- Richard J. Hazdra
Organizations
- United States Army War College