Zach Goldberg - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Cyber-terrorism has long been confined to the realm of hollywood films and science fiction novels... more Cyber-terrorism has long been confined to the realm of hollywood films and science fiction novels. This paper sets out to explain why this will cease to be the case in the years ahead. In documenting the gaping security holes in the West's net-linked critical infrastructure, the increasing proliferation of sophisticated cyber-weaponry and its relevance to al Qaeda's strategic emphasis on economic subversion, it posits a growing marriage of global Jihadist groups and electronic warfare.
A prevailing assessment among certain circles of the Terrorism discourse perceives the al-Qaeda p... more A prevailing assessment among certain circles of the Terrorism discourse perceives the al-Qaeda perpetrated 9/11 attacks as a blunder that has miserably backfired and pushed the organization towards operational entropy. The evidence provided to support such assertions is compelling, yet superficial. It ignores the long term, serpentine objectives al-Qaeda intended to achieve with 9/11 and how goading the US into responding excessively has helped to realize them. The following paper explores this strategic success through the framework of existential psychology. It portrays the Muslim world as tussling with an ontological crisis born out of the epoch of Western-led globalization and secular modernity. In launching 9/11, AQ set a process in motion that exploited the ontological insecurities of the Islamic world and leveraged them to both promote its anti-Western narrative and transform the organization into a more robust, global movement. As this paper will show, with the help of the US War on Terror—AQ has succeeded.
Cyber-terrorism has long been confined to the realm of hollywood films and science fiction novels... more Cyber-terrorism has long been confined to the realm of hollywood films and science fiction novels. This paper sets out to explain why this will cease to be the case in the years ahead. In documenting the gaping security holes in the West's net-linked critical infrastructure, the increasing proliferation of sophisticated cyber-weaponry and its relevance to al Qaeda's strategic emphasis on economic subversion, it posits a growing marriage of global Jihadist groups and electronic warfare.
A prevailing assessment among certain circles of the Terrorism discourse perceives the al-Qaeda p... more A prevailing assessment among certain circles of the Terrorism discourse perceives the al-Qaeda perpetrated 9/11 attacks as a blunder that has miserably backfired and pushed the organization towards operational entropy. The evidence provided to support such assertions is compelling, yet superficial. It ignores the long term, serpentine objectives al-Qaeda intended to achieve with 9/11 and how goading the US into responding excessively has helped to realize them. The following paper explores this strategic success through the framework of existential psychology. It portrays the Muslim world as tussling with an ontological crisis born out of the epoch of Western-led globalization and secular modernity. In launching 9/11, AQ set a process in motion that exploited the ontological insecurities of the Islamic world and leveraged them to both promote its anti-Western narrative and transform the organization into a more robust, global movement. As this paper will show, with the help of the US War on Terror—AQ has succeeded.