Al Qaeda began as an organization founded by Osama bin Laden but has since decentralized into a loose network of affiliated terrorist groups. One such affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, operates from Yemen and poses a serious global security threat. Yemen's weak central government and failed state conditions have allowed AQAP to flourish, exploiting poverty, poor governance, and sectarian conflicts for recruitment. The US supports Yemen's government against AQAP.

1. Non state terrorism

2. • Al Qaeda were originally a militant Islamic
organisation founded by Osama bin Laden
sometime in the late 90s during the Soviet –
Afghan war.

3.  Nowadays, particularly after the death of bin
Laden, Al Qaeda should be thought of a loose
network of radical Islamists, who share Al
Qaeda's ideology and use local grievances to
gather support for their cases.

4.  Definition- ‘Al Qaeda is a loose affiliation of
groups who claim affiliation to Al Qaeda or its
stated objectives of global jihad.’
 Some organizations may have operational
ties to Osama bin Laden's core group.
Increasingly, however, groups pledging
allegiance to Al Qaeda have no formal
association whatever.

5.  ‘Al Qaeda has been moving towards
decentralization ever since the invasion of
Afghanistan, with isolated cells and loosely
affiliated groups that have only a tenuous
connection to the greater Al Qaeda hierarchy
tapping into Bin Laden's "franchise,"
appropriating its ideological "brand name"
for their actions.’

6.  The group who masterminded
the 9/11 attacks, including Bin
Laden and his successor,
Ayman Al Zawahri.
 Mostly Saudi and Egyptian
born.

7.  The US’ counter terrorist measures in Pakistan, as
well as Operation Enduring Freedom (the UN
backed invasion of Afghanistan) has been centred
on eliminating the terrorist activities and
capabilities of the Al Qaeda core group.
 The U.S believes that the bin Laden raid and
continued U.S. counterterrorist action have
reduced the chance of a sophisticated,
multipronged attack on the U.S. like the attacks of
Sept. 11 or the deadly bombings in Madrid in 2004
and in London in 2005.

8.  However, Al Qaeda’s affiliate groups remain a threat to global
security.
 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi and Yemeni braches)
 Al Qaeda in Iraq
 Al Shabab – in Somalia have claimed affiliation with Al Qaeda since
2007
 Boko Haram – in Nigeria also claim affiliation with Al Qaeda

9.  All of these groups are still very actively
pursuing AQ’s agenda. They still consider
themselves at war with the U.S., the Western
nations, and their own governments.

10.  Al Qaeda has gathered support for its war against the US on the
following grounds –
 Resentment against US foreign policy in the Middle East, especially
its support of Israel against the Palestinians and the presence of US
troops in Saudi Arabia
 In 2007 Bin Laden spoke in a tape aired on Al Jazeera TV that, ‘the
Manhattan events were in retaliation for the killing of our kinfolk in
Palestine and Lebanon by the US-Israeli alliance’.

11.  A general feeling that the US is an oppressive
power against Muslims – until the Arab Spring, the
US had been a supporter of the oppressive regimes
which were overthrown, such as Mubarak's in
Egypt and Ben Ali’s in Tunisia.
 Resentment against the US and the feeling of
being oppressed by the West magnified by the
poverty and inequality of many Middle Eastern and
North African states.

12.  US foreign policy in the Middle East – the US’
support for Israel – the US has used its veto
10 times since 2000, nine of which involved
backing the Israeli side in the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.

13.  The US has refused to
condone in the UN,
Isreali settlements in
the West Bank

14.  Of the Al Qaeda affiliates it is the Al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula, particularly Yemen which is of the
most concern to global security, especially that of the
US.
 "As al-Qaida's core has gotten weaker, we have seen
the rise of affiliated groups around the world. Among
these al-Qaida affiliates, al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) represents a particularly serious
threat," the survey of terrorism worldwide warned.

16.  One of the poorest countries in the Arab world.
 34% of the population is unemployed.
 45% live below the United Nations‘ poverty line
 55% are illiterate.
 With Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at
only $2,500, Yemeni living standards have more in
common with sub-Saharan Africa than with the
rest of the Middle East

17.  Yemen has a weak
central government and
is in danger of becoming
a failed state.
 Various group[s in
Yemen’s North and
South are launching
secessionist campaigns
against the government.

18.  A failed state is a state perceived as having failed
at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities
of a sovereign government. Some characteristics
of a failed state are -
 loss of control of its territory, or of the
monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force
therein erosion of legitimate authority to make
collective decisions
 an inability to provide public services

20.  Failed states lack the ability to safeguard
economic stability, provide access to
resources such as food and water and promote
general public security.
 Failed states have also lost their monopoly on
the utility of violence – which can result in
failed states being trapped in a cycle of
violence and underdevelopment which is self
perpetuating.

21.  Violence employed as a means of achieving
ones political objectives, commonly
witnesses in global politics through inter
state war. Traditionally perceived as an
instrument of state power, violence and
threatened acts of violence are increasing
used by terrorist groups as means of
achieving their objectives.

22.  Failed states have weak and porous borders, and
contain large tracks of territory in which the
government has lost control over.
 Failed and failing states provide a potential refuge
for transnational terrorists, transnational criminal
organizations, pirates as well as drug and human
smugglers. They are breeding grounds for refugee
crises, political and religious extremism,
environmental degradation and organized criminal
activity

23.  "[W]e have come to understand better", an Australian
Government ASEAN Regional Forum report, "the impact
weak and failing states can have on global security.
Afghanistan illustrated the role such states can play in
providing shelter for terrorist networks.” Apart from
sheltering terrorists, it has also been claimed that failed or
failing states can become terrorist 'breeding' grounds as
"young people with ineffectual government, few jobs, little
or no education … find strength and security within terrorist
organizations.”

24.  Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen exploited the
decline in central government control last
year that accompanied Arab Spring-inspired
protests that eventually forced president Ali
Abdullah Saleh to cede power in February.
 The US and the international community are
supporting the Yemeni government against
Al Qaeda in Yemen