Wrestling the Hydra: Exploiting Organizational Evolution in Terrorist Groups
Abstract
Terrorist groups will inevitably change in response to their environments, namely in response to the internal and external forces generated by geography, leadership, alliances, and adversary actions. Furthermore, the evolving nature of these violent non-state actors is vulnerable to exploitation, and policies that take advantage of this fact can speed such groups to an acceptable end. Changes in a group s operating environment will cause modifications of organizational behavior or structure in order to ensure its survival and continued efficacy. This variation will result in an evolutionary process that will ultimately manifest itself in four distinct trends in organizational change. As a violent non-state actor moves through its life cycle, it will experience a combination of these trends due to the variation of their own structures and practices in response to the world that surrounds them. Three cases from Iraq provide more detailed examinations of these trends. The Mahdi Army, the National Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS Iraq), and al-Qaeda in Iraq offer organizations that experience the full spectrum of this phenomenon. From a perspective of policy, the counter terrorism strategist recognizes organizational evolution in its target as either a series of opportunities to exploit, or vulnerabilities to create.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 02, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA601629
Entities
People
- Landgrave T. Smith
Organizations
- Marine Corps University