Why Terrorist Groups Form International Alliances

The menace of terrorism has existed for centuries, but its modern, transnational version has ‘metastasized’ to the extent of threatening global peace and security. In 1975, security expert Brian Jenkins observed: ‘Terrorists want a lot of people watching and not a lot of people dead.’

However, that situation changed dramatically in the following decades. Today’s transnational terrorist groups, like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), not only want a lot of people dead, they employ terrorism as a potent form of asymmetric warfare against the 21st century international order. In fact, terrorism has emerged as the biggest security threat to world peace after the September 11, 2001 attacks and remains intractable even after a concerted international campaign against it on several fronts.