The graphic above is from a very interesting series of posts on Coming Anarchy on the development of terrorists and terrorism in the Muslim world. Chirol asks:
How does your average sympathetic Muslim move deeper into the circle? How much is the average jump? That is, how many layers does a person usually move through at a time, i.e. most don’t go from Joe Schmo to Usama bin Ladin. How can each level be dealt with? And how do groups on one level adopt the rhetoric of the other, in order to gain legitmacy and/or support?
In a second graphic, Chirol charts the timeline of the development. One milestone that I think should be added to the timeline is the Oil Embargo of the 1970’s. This event was both an example of the willingness of Arab countries to confront the West and an accelerator for the development of terrorism since the outcome produced increased revenue, too much of which has been funneled into the spread of terrorism.
Read all about it!
Make sure you read the comments on the initial post if you haven’t. I brought up the issue you raise on the role of Saudi Arabia, but with more historical background.
Thanks for the recommendation, Kirk. No, I hadn’t read them and your contributions are fabulous (love your blog, BTW—it’s a regular read for me).
I wonder what you think of an observation another blogger once made to me that the Saudis aren’t exporting Wahhabism, they’re exporting their claim to be “protectors of the holy places” i.e. their claim to legitimate control of the Arab peninsula?