Transnational Terrorism

The term transnational terrorism is often used to describe organizations, such as Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, that include militants of multiple nationalities and that operate in many countries at once. It is also sometimes used synonymously with international terrorism, or terrorism that involves citizens or the territory of more than one country.

The 1990s began a general trend away from terrorism perpetrated by state-sponsored, political groups toward terrorism committed by international networks of individuals that maintain contact by telephone and the Internet. Such transnational terrorism has grown through the easing of travel restrictions and the improvements in communication technology [Page 366]and international banking and finance. Transnational networks such as Al Qaeda travel often, seeking safe havens in countries that have weak governments and fairly open borders. They often set up training camps in remote areas, through which all new recruits pass before being sent off to assignments around the world.

This form of terrorism is much more difficult for counterterrorist forces to combat, because often there are no clear paths for retaliation, and groups may simply migrate to new regions of the world to avoid detection. After Al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, the United States retaliated by bombing Afghanistan, the country providing harbor to much of the Al Qaeda network. The offensive destroyed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, but many Al Qaeda members, including bin Laden, appear to have escaped and may be regrouping in an unknown location. When discussing the U.S. “war on terrorism,” President George W. Bush and administration officials have said that the transnational nature of the Al Qaeda threat necessitates an offensive beyond the borders of Afghanistan, to all places that harbor terrorist networks. Controversially, Bush used this framework to call for an expansion of the war into Iraq.