Although diminished, al Qaeda and its ideological adherents are finding converts in the West thanks to deft use of the Internet and social media, says a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The report, released Feb. 8, says the once-hierarchical terrorist organization lead by Osama bin Laden has in recent years become a three-tiered configuration consisting of a small core in western Pakistan, affiliated or like-minded groups across the world, and a fringe of unaffiliated al Qaeda-inspired cells or individuals who still receive occasional guidance from the core and affiliates.

Binding the three tiers together is a common ideology that the advent of the Internet and Web 2.0 tools has made it easier to disseminate, the report says. Digital communications also makes the finding of new adherents simpler, since transmitting the message can be done virtually.

 "With radicalization, recruitment and planning now possible in a virtual realm, Islamist extremists no longer must meet in person to enact their agenda," say the report's two co-authors, Rick "Ozzie" Nelson, director of the CSIS Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program and Thomas M. Sanderson, deputy of the CSIS Transnational Threats Project.

A would-be al Qaeda terrorist living in the United States could become sufficiently radicalized by watching YouTube lectures from terrorist clerics such as Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and connect with deeper tiers of the al Qaeda ecosystem through email, Facebook or other means, the report says.

Report authors cite the case of Ahmed Abdulla Minni, one of five men from Northern Virginia arrested in Pakistan in December 2009 for attempting to join the Taliban. Minni's comments on YouTube videos showing insurgent attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan drew the attention of a Taliban recruiter, who through email helped conspire to have Minni and his friends travel to Pakistan.

Online recruiting has also allowed extremists to reach out to audiences drawn to terrorism but not necessarily the religious observation that extremist Muslim groups demonstrate.

Al Qaeda and associated movements "have used increasingly creative media, including video games, rap videos and comic books, to project an image of 'jihadi cool,'" the report says.

For more:
- download the CSIS report, "A Threat Transformed: Al Qaeda and Associated Movements in 2011" (.pdf)
- watch a CSIS panel discussion on the report

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