Al-Qaeda: its ideology and organizational evolution

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, Turkey

Approval Date: 2018

Student: BURAK GÜNHAN AYDINER

Supervisor: HÜSEYİN BAĞCI

Abstract:

This thesis analyses al-Qaeda phenomenon in terms of its ideology and organizational evolution. Firstly, ‘true believer perspective’ and ‘rational actor perspective’ will be applied as a theoretical framework to be able to explain al-Qaeda’s ideological character and success of its organizational evolution. Secondly, al-Qaeda’s ideology, i.e. al-Qaedaism, will be analyzed in terms of its key terms and ideologues. Lastly, I will try to answer the question how al-Qaeda has evolved since its foundation by focusing its breaking points in its organizational evolution and what kinds of strategies al-Qaeda formulated each time when it faced a crisis particularly. The thesis argues that while al-Qaeda transforms itself to an ideology, which enables it to inspire many Muslims around the world and make it harder to deal with the organization, it shows the ability to overcome crisis by making the necessary changes in its organizational structure at the same time.