What is all about Al-Qaeda?

People across the global have taken a dim view of Al-Qaeda and cast aspersions on its credentials since the September 11 attacks.

It is perceived as a gaggle of fanatics who glorify violence and call into play grisly tactics like suicide bombings to terrorise and browbeat the innocent people the world over. However, if we dig deep and come at the situation without blinkers to catch the drift of the term, it becomes blindingly obvious that Al-Qaeda is not a group or organisation but rather a mindset and a way of thinking.

Subscribing to Al-Qaeda mindset is not related to fundamentalism per se and neither is it the domain of any particular religion; Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and seculars - all become potentially disposed towards turning into suicide bombers under a particular set of conditions and circumstances.

This mindset or way of thinking takes over the hearts and minds of people due to certain reasons. The same views are staked out by the seminal work of Professor Robert A Pape of the University of Chicago Dying to Win: The strategic logic of suicide terrorism, which clues one in on the whole enchilada.

There is no shred of evidence to lend colour that it is only or largely the growth of a religions extremist ideology that fans the flames of the dynamics of Al-Qaeda mindset.

The mounting empirical evidence spotlights the unsavoury fact that the support of this mindset manifests through multiple motivations, constraints and pressures. It can be better understood through a political economy perspective that provides insight into the interactive role of political power, economic motivations, survival strategies and war finance.