Going to the Source
Why Al Qaeda's Financial Network Is Likely to Withstand the Current War on Terrorist Financing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12407017 |
|---|---|
| Authors | MARK BASILE (Tufts University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 169-185 |
| Publication date | 2004-04-16 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1057-610X • E-ISSN: 1521-0731 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10576100490438237 |
| OpenAlex | W1973800738 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
On 24 September 2001, President Bush announced the first stage of the War on Terrorism with an attack against the terrorist financial infrastructure. Since then, the impact of this attack on Al Qaeda's ability to operate has been minimal, for three reasons. First, Al Qaeda has built a strong network of financiers and operatives who are both frugally minded and business savvy. As a result, terrorist finances are often hidden in legitimate and illegitimate businesses and disguised as commodities and cash. Second, Al Qaeda has learned to effectively leverage the global financial system of capital markets. Small financial transfers, underregulated Islamic banking networks and informal transfer systems throughout the world make it almost impossible to stop Al Qaeda from moving money. Third, Al Qaeda has built a significant base of Islamic charities in Saudi Arabia with international divisions that have not been scrutinized or controlled by the regime. As a result, Al Qaeda's sophisticated financial network may be able to sustain international efforts to disrupt it. Financial regulations imposed to reduce terrorist financing must be applied more broadly and be supported by significant resources. An improvement in the war on terrorist financing requires better international coordination, more effective use of financial regulations, and regulating the Saudi Arabian charity structure
Al qaeda · Business · Cash · Economics · Islam · Leverage (statistics · Political science · Spanish Civil War · Terrorism · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Law · Finance
Fighting Terrorism the Fatf Way
Counter-Terrorism Financing
Countering the Financing of Terrorism
What We Have Learned about Terrorism since 9/11
Tentacles of Jihad
The Political Economy of Terrorism
Challenges of Combating Terrorist Financing in the Lake Chad Region
Terrorism
Terrorism as Transnational Advocacy
Al Qaeda as a Dune Organization
The Leaderless Nexus
Reintegration of Ex-Combatants by Civil Society Organizations
FinTech, terrorism-related fund transfers and behavioural finance
Charity as Resistance
Governance of Terror
Oil and Terrorism
| Citations per year | 0.76 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2005 - 2025 (21) |
| Highly cited | No |