Updated and Extensive al Qaeda Reading List

This reading list is based on what I teach my students at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Class 1: An overview of Islamist terrorism and its intellectual influences, and a discussion of the underlying causes of the 9/11 attacks.

Class 2: The Afghan war against the Soviet Union, the role of the United States, and the formation of an Islamist internationale, 1979-1989.

Class 3: Al Qaeda from its formation in 1989 to 1996.

Class 4: Afghanistan under the Taliban, the rise of the religious warriors and their al Qaeda allies.
Class 5: Al Qaeda from 1996 until the 9/11 attacks.

Class 6: The Leaders of Al Qaeda.

Class 7: Al Qaeda and the United States before the 9/11 plot.

Class 8: Pakistan and the jihadists before 9/11.

Class 9: The 9/11 plot.

Class 10: US attempts to counter al Qaeda and its forerunners from the 1993
bombing of the World Trade Center until today.

Class 11: Al Qaeda and the US post-9/11.

Class 12: Pakistan and the jihadists post-9/11.

Class 13: Al Qaeda after 9/11.

Required reading for the entire course.
(Relevant individual chapters for particular classes are noted below.)

If you thoroughly read all of these books you will be doing yourself a favor?

The 9/11 Commission report (New York, Norton 2004)
Note that the hardback version has an index, which the paperback version lacks.

Anonymous, Through Our Enemies? Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America. (Washington, DC: Brasseys, 2002) (Paperback edition)

Peter Bergen, Holy War, Inc. Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (New York: Touchstone, 2002). (Paperback edition).

Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror (New York: I.B. Tauris 2003). (Paperback edition)

Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (The Penguin Press, 2004)

Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (University of Pennsylvania Press 2004)

Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda, Global Network of Terror (New York, Columbia University Press 2002) (Paperback edition).

Edited by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader (New York, 2002 Oxford University Press) [This is a useful collection of primary documents].

Note that R-indicates required reading, O-indicates optional reading

Class 1. Monday January 24
An overview of Islamist terrorism and its intellectual influences, and a discussion of the underlying causes of the 9/11 attacks.

R- Burke, Al Qaeda, ch. 2, pp. 23-39

R- Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror, (New York: Random House, 2002) chapter 2, pp.38-94

R-Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1998) chapter 4 pp.87-129

R- Malise Ruthven, A Fury for God. The Islamist Attack on America (New York: Granta Books, 2002) ch. 3 pp.72-98

R-Edited by James F. Hoge Jr. and Gideon Rose, How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War (New York: Public Affairs, 2001) essay by Michael Scott Doran, Somebody Else?s Civil War pp.31-52

R- Qunitan Wiktorowicz, A Genealogy of Radical Islam, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, March-April 2005

-R Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (Cambridge, Belknap Press Harvard 2002) Introduction, pp 1-20

R. Clifford Gertz, Which Way to Mecca? New York Review of Books, June 12 2003

R. Paul Berman, Al Qaeda?s Philosopher, New York Times Magazine, March 23, 2003, or for a fuller treatment of Berman?s views see also Terror and Liberalism, (Norton, New York, 2003)

R-Edited by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader (New York, 2002 Oxford University Press) pp- 27-32

R-John F. Burns, Bin Laden Stirs Struggle on Meaning of Jihad, New York Times, January 27, 2002

R- Reuven Paz, ISLAMISTS AND ANTI-AMERICANISM, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 4 (December 2003)

R- Gilles Kepel, Muslim Extremism in Egypt, the Prophet and Pharaoh, (University of California 1986) Chapter 2 pp. 36-67

R-Dore Gold, Hatred?s Kingdom. How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Regnery, Washington ,2003) see generally.

R- David Kaplan, The Roots of Global Terror, US News, December 15, 2003

R- R.Takeyh/N.Gvosdev, Radical Islam: Death of an Ideology, Middle East Policy, Winter 2004

O- John L. Esposito, Terror in the Name of Islam, (Oxford University Press 2002) chapter 2 pp 26- 70

O- Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam (Chicago: the University of Chicago Press, 1988) ch. 4 pp.71-90

O- Reuven Firestone, Jihad, the Origin of Holy War in Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) ch. 1 pp.13-18 and ch. 3 pp 47-65

O-Rex Hudson and the Library of Congress Staff, Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why (Guilford Connecticut, Lyons Press 1999)


Class 2 Monday January 31
The Afghan war against the Soviet Union, the role of the United States, and the formation of an Islamist internationale, 1979-1989.


R- Bergen ch. 3, 66-78

R- Burke, Al Qaeda ch. 4 pp 54-67 and ch. 5 68- 80

R- Olivier Roy, Afghanistan From Holy War to Civil War (Princeton, New Jersey The Darwin Press 1995) chapters 3, 4 and 5, pp. 43?92

R- Mohammad Yousaf and Mark Adkin, Afghanistan--The Bear: The Defeat of a Superpower, London: Leo Cooper, 1992) Chapter 5, pp. 78-96

R- John Cooley, Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism (London and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2000). Chapter 5 pp. 80-105

R- Mark Huband, Warriors of the Prophet (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1998) chapter 1, pp.1-24

R- Anonymous, Through Our Enemies? Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America. (Washington, DC: Brasseys, 2002) [Anonymous was a serving CIA officer] chapter 7 pp.89-108

R-Edited by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader (New York, 2002 Oxford University Press) pp. 62-64 and pp. 108-110 (Brezizinski memo)

O-Edited by James F. Hoge Jr. and Gideon Rose, How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War, (New York: Public Affairs, 2001) essay by Milton Bearden, Graveyard of Empires, Afghanistan?s Treacherous Peaks, pp. 83-95

O- Mark Urban, War in Afghanistan, (London: Macmillan Press, 1988) pp.203-222
`
O- Henry S. Bradsher, Afghan Communism and Soviet Intervention (Oxford University Press, 1999) ch. 6 pp.177-192

O-George Crile, Charlie Wilson?s War, The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2003)


Class 3 February 7
Al Qaeda from its formation in 1989 to 1996
This class will examine the changing nature of al Qaeda from its inception in Afghanistan, and the group?s sojourn in Sudan from 91-96.

R- The 9/11 Commission Report (New York, Norton 2004) Chapter 2 p 47-63

R-Bergen, pp. 79-107

R- Burke, Al Qaeda pp. 123-147

R-Gunaratna, chapter 2, pp.54-94

R-Anonymous, Through Our Enemies? Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America. (Washington, DC: Brasseys, 2002) [Anonymous was a serving CIA officer] ch. 8 pp. 109-118 and chapter 9 pp.119-131 and chapter 10 pp.133-147

R-Mamoun Fandy, Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent (New York, St. Martin?s Press, 1999) ch.6 pp.177-194

R-Mark Huband, Brutal Truths, Fragile Myths: Power Politics and Western Adventurism in the Arab World, (Westview, Colorado, 2004) ch. 3 p.69-113

The court transcript of USA v. Usama bin Laden (the embassy bombings trial) provides a wealth of material. The entire transcript of the trial is available at http://www.cryptome.org/usa-v-ubl-dt.htm

R-The most important testimony for this class is from the following days:
Testimony of L?Hossaine Kherchtou, February 21, 26; Testimony of Essam al-Ridi, February 14, 2001; Testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, February 6, 2001.

R-The minutes of a meeting relating to the founding of al Qaeda can be found at

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bifladen1.html

O- Michael Barletta, Chemical Weapons in the Sudan: Allegations and Evidence, The Nonproliferation Review, Fall 1998

O-Also of interest is: Ali Mohamed?s plea agreement, reprinted as ?Excerpts from Guilty Plea in Terrorism Case,? New York Times, October 21, 2000

0-Roland Jacquard, In the Name of Osama Bin Laden, Global Terrorism and the Bin Laden Brotherhood, (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002). The Appendix
of this compiles a useful series of documents pp.168-272 for this class and others

Class 4 February 14
Afghanistan under the Taliban, the rise of the religious warriors and their al Qaeda allies. This class will examine the exact nature of the relationship between the Taliban and al Qaeda.


R- The 9/11 Commission report (New York, Norton 2004) Chapter 2 p 47-71

R - Bergen, pp. 146-170

R- Burke, Al Qaeda ch. 8 pp106-123 and ch. 12 pp. 161-177

R - Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001) (paperback edition) pages 1-140 and appendices 1 to 3.

R - Michael Griffin, Reaping the Whirlwind, the Taliban Movement in
Afghanistan (Pluto Press, London and Sterling VA) chs. 3 and 4, pp.33-69

R-Edited by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader (New York, 2002 Oxford University Press) pp- 40-41 and pp. 247-249

R- Julie Sirrs, The Taliban?s International Ambitions, the Middle East Quarterly, Summer, 2001

R- Alan Cullison and Andrew Higgins, Inside al Qaeda?s Afghan Turmoil, Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2002,

R-Alan Cullison, Al Qaeda?s Hard Drive, The Atlantic, September, 2004

R- Pamela Constable, The Washington Post: Buddhas? Rubble Marks a Turn for Taliban, March 20, 2001

R- Tim Wiener, The Commanders; Afghan Arabs Said to Lead Taliban?s Fight, The New York Times Nov. 10, 2001.
R- Craig Pyes and William Rempel, Slowly Stalking an Afghan ?Lion?, Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2002 This is the best account of the plan to assassinate Ahmad Shah Massoud, which was a prelude to the 9/11 attacks.
O-the National Security Archive has a useful collection of declassified US State Department documents about the Taliban that can be accessed at http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB134/index.htm

O ?William Maley, editor, Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the
Taliban (New York University Press, 1998) Introduction by Maley, pp1-23 and chapter on The United States and the Taliban by Richard Mackenzie, pp. 90-103.

O-Chris Johnson & Jolyon Leslie, Afghanistan: The Mirage of Peace, (London, Zed Books, 2004)


Class 5 February 21
Al Qaeda from 1996-9/11
This class will examine how al Qaeda became increasingly violent once it rebased itself in Afghanistan in ?96, with a particular focus on the US embassy bombing attacks in Africa, and the USS Cole attack in Yemen. We will also consider al Qaeda?s researches into weapons of mass destruction.


R- The 9/11 Commission report (New York, Norton 2004) Chapter 6 p 174-215

R- Bergen, ch.1 pp.24-41 and pp. 108-116 and pp 171-198

R- Burke, Al Qaeda, ch. 11 pp.143-160 ch. 14 189-209

R-Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda, ch. 3 127-221

R- Bernard Lewis, ?License to Kill,? Foreign Affairs, November/December 1998.

R- Anonymous, Through Our Enemies? Eyes. Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America. (Washington, DC: Brasseys, 2002) [Anonymous is a serving CIA officer.] ch.11 pp 151-168 and ch. 12 pp. 169-194 and ch.13 pp. 195-224.

R-The court transcript of USA v. Usama bin Laden (the embassy bombings trial) provides a wealth of material. The entire transcript of the trial is available at http://www.cryptome.org/usa-v-ubl-dt.htm
The most useful days for this class are Testimony of FBI Agent John Anticev, February 27, 2001; Summation of Ken Karas, May 1, 2001; Testimony of Jerrold M. Post, M.D., June 27, 2001.

R- Edited by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader (New York, 2002 Oxford University Press) pp.174-18, The Videotape of 2001 and pp. 204-207 The Fazil letter

R-David Rohde and C.J. Chivers, The Jihad Files, the New York Times, March 17, 2002 and March 18, 2002

R-Alan Cullison and Andrew Higgins, Computer in Kabul Holds Chilling Memos, December 31, 2001

R- Alan Cullison, Al Qaeda?s Hard Drive, The Atlantic, September, 2004

R-Xavier Raufer, Al Qaeda: A Different Diagnosis, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, November-December 2003

R-Pakistani Scientist?s Link to bin Laden Still Appear Murky, Washington Post, March 3, 2002

R-David Albright and Holly Higgins, Pakistani Nuclear Scientists: How Much Nuclear Assistance to al Qaeda? August 30, 2002 ISIS issue paper at www.exportcontrols.org/pakscientists.html

R-Al Qaeda Training manual can be found at www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm

0- Wolf Blitzer, Nic Robertson, Mike Boettcher, David Grange, Peter Bergen, Terror on Tape: Inside al Qaeda, CNN, August 25, 2002.


Class 6 February 28
The Leaders of Al Qaeda
This class will address the biographies and ideas of the most important figures in al Qaeda:

R- Gilles Kepel, the War for Muslim Minds, Islam and the West, (Cambridge, Mass, Belknap, 2004) pp 70-108

R- Bergen ch. 2 pp. 49-65

O-Gunaratna ch. 21-71

R-Most Wanted: Profiles of Terror, a collection of essays, (New Delhi, Lotus/Roli books 2002) pp. 19-37, profile of Osama bin Laden by Rahimullah Yusufzai

R- Lawrence Wright, The Man Behind Laden: How an Egyptian doctor became a master of terror, The New Yorker, September 16, 2002, (Note, this is more than 20,000 words in length.)

R-Montasser al Zayyat, The Road to al Qaeda: The Story of Bin Laden?s Right Hand Man, (Sterling, Virginia, Pluto 2004)

R- Ayman al-Zawahiri, Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet. This document is Zawahiri?s autobiography, and it also outlines his political philosophy. It runs about 75 pages and is essential reading to understand him. Can be found at www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ayman_bk.html

R- Andrew Higgins and Andrew Cullison, Saga of Dr. Zawahiri Sheds Light on al Qaeda Terror, Wall Street Journal July 2, 2002

R-Robert S. Snyder, Bin Laden as a Civilizational Revolutionary, The Review of Politics, Fall of 2003