The North African Franchise: AQIM's Threat to U.S. Security. Strategic Insights, Volume 8, Issue 5

Abstract

Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is a growing and evolving North African franchise of Al Qaeda. While the group carries out a significant number of attacks within the Sahel, they have not executed attacks in the United States or Europe. There is significant research concerning the historical development of AQIM. However, there is a dearth of literature on the threat that this group poses to the United States. The purpose of this paper is to fill this research gap and evaluate the threat that AQIM poses to US security. My analysis will demonstrate that AQIM's operations in Europe and Iraq are a security threat to US facilities and personnel. Moreover, this paper will demonstrate that AQIM has both the intent and capability to conduct attacks against US targets in Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA519138

Entities

People

  • Russell J. Isaacs

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Civil War
  • Europe
  • European Union
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Relations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Public Policy
  • Security
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Marine Propulsion Engineering and Naval Architecture
  • Strategic Security Studies