Master thesis | Crisis and Security Management (MSc)
open access
This thesis assesses how United States drone strikes against al Qaeda Central in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in Pakistan, between 2004 and 2011, affected the broader organization of al...Show moreThis thesis assesses how United States drone strikes against al Qaeda Central in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in Pakistan, between 2004 and 2011, affected the broader organization of al Qaeda. This research was conducted by means of a 7-S analysis of al Qaeda’s broader organization throughout two timeframes: from 1988 until 2001, the pre-drone phase, and from 2001 until 2011, the intra-drone phase, across seven organizational factors, namely Shared Values, Strategy, Structure, Systems, Style, Staff and Skills. This paper found that US drone strikes directly impacted al Qaeda’s Structure, Style, Staff, Skills and Systems and indirectly its Shared Values. Al Qaeda’s Strategy remained unaffected. The drone program affected al Qaeda mostly by denying al Qaeda secure communications, killing large numbers of operatives, thereby accelerating al Qaeda’s educational and promotional processes, and by disrupting the intergenerational transfer of skills and knowledge.Show less
Een onderzoek naar de relatie tussen de Afghaanse Taliban en al Qaeda. Hierbij wordt, aan de hand van memo's en memoires, onderzocht hoe de Amerikaanse ministers van Defensie Donald Rumsfeld (2001...Show moreEen onderzoek naar de relatie tussen de Afghaanse Taliban en al Qaeda. Hierbij wordt, aan de hand van memo's en memoires, onderzocht hoe de Amerikaanse ministers van Defensie Donald Rumsfeld (2001-2006) en Robert Gates (2006-2011) de relatie zagen.Show less
Strategic culture is often presented as largely resistant to change. Most literature on strategic culture agrees that external shocks, such as a war or a revolution, can change an actor’s strategic...Show moreStrategic culture is often presented as largely resistant to change. Most literature on strategic culture agrees that external shocks, such as a war or a revolution, can change an actor’s strategic culture. In the literature on al Qaeda’s strategic culture a rift exists between those who argue it is mainly rigid and those who argue it adapts to other kinds of change, such as systemic or internal change. The thesis researches whether al Qaeda’s strategic culture stays rigid or adapts when faced with systemic or internal change.Show less
