Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric now hiding in Yemen, has combined religious doctrine with colloquial Western references to become the most popular terrorist among Western supporters. By using the Internet to brand himself as a user-friendly personality, al-Awlaki has repackaged al-Qaeda’s convoluted and inaccessible message into something that his followers are able to understand and replicate on their own. Terrorism expert Jarret Brachman and the Anti-Defamation League’s Alix Levine develop a model for understanding the process of online al-Qaeda mobilization and offer valuable insight on why—and when—this phenomenon becomes an actual security concern.
Jarret M. Brachman and Alix N. Levine
Jarret Brachman is an internationally recognized counterterrorism researcher whose current work focuses on al-Qaeda’s grand strategy and use of new media. He serves as the managing director of Cronus Global, a security-consulting firm. Alix Levine, an analyst in the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism,* specializes in the study of homegrown extremism and online mobilization. She provides training for the law enforcement community and has produced numerous reports on the ideologies, activities and tactics of domestic and international terrorist movements. (*Organization noted for identification purposes only).
Fletcher Forum articles by Jarret M. Brachman and Alix N. Levine: