Counter-Terrorism
Terrorist groups and organizations have a common characteristic whereby their operational structures and long-term longevity are mainly centered on certain influential figures and the rank they hold in the organization. These leaders are relied upon by their membership to establish the group’s strategic focus, as well as charm their believers into taking action on their faith as they try to achieve their core objectives. One such terrorist outfit that has managed to develop and sustain an almost global reach as well as to remain active in their global operations is al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden founded the group in 1988 and was at its helm since then until his death in 2011, and during this time, the group had managed to commit some of the worst global acts of terror ever witnessed. This research paper analyzes the similarities and differences in the leadership and communication styles between Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, a co-founder, and the man who took over al-Qaeda’s leadership after bin Laden’s demise, to ascertain their influence on the group’s sustained activities.
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri Leadership styles
According to Sude (2015), the major motivation behind the formation and subsequent survival of al-Qaeda is because both bin Laden and al-Zawahiri believed in forging alliances that would serve to advance their strategic focus. Gohel (2018), agrees that the formation of the group was in itself a strategic partnership in which on the one hand, bin Laden brought onto the table a proficient managerial background, with sufficient experience in the recruitment of young, ready, and eager Muslims to fight for the Afghanistan Jihad including from Europe and the United States, and a proven record of victory in the war against the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Al-Zawahiri was a trained physician and a pioneering Islamic militant, who had formed the Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, a group that claimed responsibility for the failed assassination attempt of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In this case, their professional background played a crucial role in shaping tier leadership styles. Bin laden utilized his business management skills to implement and execute the framework of the group. He managed to issue orders and make a follow up to ensure that everything is done according to the plan. Al-Zawahiri is the brains behind the group. He is decisive and mostly takes a practical approach to issues,
These two leaders both exhibit a charismatic leadership style. Agreeing to join their two movements into one solid base that would adequately act as their core strength in their unity against one common enemy depicts their boldness and courage to fight the United States. This ability to fully direct hatred towards a single enemy is a powerful tool in the rallying together of a multitude of people who make an easy connection between their beliefs and causes. However, both bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have taken issue with other parties in the course of their leadership careers, but have still managed to maintain their core focus on fighting the major enemy (Counter Extremism Project, 2018). Bin Laden was known to be an active critic of the Saudi royal administration, often belittling their legitimacy over the cities of Medina and Mecca, a stance that escalated to a diplomatic row which ended in bin Laden’s citizenship being revoked by Saudi Arabia. The same is seen with al-Zawahiri’s, who differed publicly with ISIS, another extremist organization in 2014.
The two leaders utilized a persuasive leadership style to appeal to Muslim followers, vehemently claiming that their blood had been aimlessly lost in Palestine and Iraq, with oppression, inequality, and injustice being meted over them by the Israeli-linked Zionist-Crusader movement. They continuously highlighted the numerous atrocities that had been committed in regions of the world that had the majority population of Muslims, such as Burma, Assam, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Philippines (Gohel, 2018). These sentiments indeed echoed in an increasing number of radical-minded Muslims who sympathized with the message from al-Qaeda, and in many such locations, cells of organized radicals assembled and thus leading to an exploding global membership of the group. In the years that follow the exit of bin Laden from the top leadership of the group, al-Zawahiri maintains the status of emir among many right-winged pro-Muslim organizations with expanded global operations.
Al-Shabaab, who runs its main operation from Somalia, on multiple occasions, has declared its unconditional support for and affiliation with the al-Zawahiri led al-Qaeda (Anderson & McKnight, 2015). This affiliated group has launched numerous terrorist operations in the Eastern Africa region, with immediate neighbor Kenya, who is regarded as a U.S. ally being their likely target. The concept of unifying Muslims around a universally accepted rallying call and creating strategic alliances with partners in a wide range of unlikely locations has proven effective in the overall existence and longevity of al-Qaeda. Before bin Laden was finally traced and killed, the U.S. had to carry out extremely laborious analyses as well as numerous undercover operations for them to establish the correct whereabouts of their prime suspect, a process that took them about ten years. This intricate security system can also be highly attributed to the extremely evasive character of al-Zawahiri. In the wake of his worldwide warrant of arrest issued against him, that has never been claimed since 2001, with unconfirmed reports pointing to his area of residence as being either Afghanistan or Pakistan (Counter Extremism Project, 2018).
Communication techniques
Regarding their communication techniques, bin Laden had always been a man who led his troops from the front, appearing in the groups broadcast messages usually clad in full military combat, and armed with an AK47, a move that deeply resonated with his extremist followers. During bin Laden reign on al-Qaeda, and the period of the group’s heightened activities in the wake of the September 9/11 U.S. bombings, bin Laden had made several broadcasts to the world, targeting various audiences including, his supporters, the broader Muslim community or directly towards the enemy (Sude, 2015). His business and management training skills also enabled him to maintain an international approach to the leadership of the organization, creating new partners and maintaining a relationship based on trust and a centralized system.
The role al-Zawahiri played in the organization, in addition to being the second in command and the designated successor to bin Laden, was the architect and mastermind behind the daily operations of the extremist group (Gohel, 2018). The soft-spoken, scholarly looking al-Zawahiri, who has been seldom seen in published media, is believed to have been responsible for overseeing the development of both tactical and operational procedures that yielded the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Al-Zawahiri has also been regarded as many as a spiritual leader due to his knowledge and acute beliefs in Islam (Anderson & McKnight, 2015). Made up of religious clerics and Islamic scholars, the Islamic Studies Committee is the custodian of the organization’s official communication avenues, and which is believed to be headed by al-Zawahiri. This height of influence in religious actions and beliefs that al-Zawahiri casts, has given room to the decentralization of authority to regional leaders who are affiliated to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda affiliates throughout the world are in a position to organize and perform their operations independently, with an endorsement from al-Zawahiri seen as a justification for their varied activities.
Conclusion
The leadership and communication styles of terrorist groups and organization will usually play a significant role in determining the overall growth and longevity of the group. To gain the loyalty of member’s, al-Qaeda’s founders capitalized on their capabilities to evoke a shared hatred for one common enemy and set their sole focus to the ultimate destruction of this foe. The charismatic and networking expert, bin Laden was able to create a formidable central base of supporters and sympathizers, and using his business management training background, ensured the continuous working of regional operations. His partner al-Zawahiri was mostly concerned with developing tactical and operational programs while spearheading the dissemination of official information. The behind-the-scene attribute of al-Zawahiri can be linked to the long evasive nature of the group’s leader, while still being able to assert considerable influence in a much more decentralized leadership.
References
Anderson, D. M., & McKnight, J. (2015). Kenya at war: Al-Shabaab and its enemies in Eastern Africa. African Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adu082
Counter Extremism Project. (2018). Ayman al-Zawahiri. Counter Extremism Project. https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/ayman-al-zawahiri
Gohel, S. M. (2018). Sajjan M. Gohel Deciphering Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda’s strategic and ideological imperatives Article (Published version) (Refereed) Research Notes Deciphering Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda’s Strategic and Ideological Imperatives. Perspectives on Terrorism, 1, 54–67. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/86743/1/Gohel_Deciphering Al-Qaeda_2018.pdf
Sude, B. (2015). Assessing Al-Qa’ida Central’s Resilience – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Combating Terrorism Center. https://ctc.usma.edu/assessing-al-qaida-centrals-resilience/