World Citizen: Resilient Al-Qaida Struggles to Survive in a New Era

The Sept. 11 attacks made a household name out of al-Qaida, an organization whose existence had earlier concerned only intelligence professionals and a handful of journalists. As 2012 begins, al-Qaida has suffered a series of harsh blows, leading some to conclude that the once-predominant purveyor of terrorism and extremist ideology in much of the world has become a spent force, one without much of a future.

To be sure, 2011 was a devastating year for the organization. But al-Qaida is not about to fade quietly into the sunset. Like a virus that mutates to survive its host’s most potent defenses, al-Qaida is a nimble, adaptable organism. It is already seeking to make the most of a situation that, undoubtedly, has become a threat to its survival. ...