Al Qaeda's Global Franchises

While there are many international terrorist organizations that threaten American interests, al Qaeda remains the most deadly. It is an ever-evolving organization with a fearsome capacity to commit horrific violence in its pursuit of its extremist mission. However, the group’s semi-independent regional ‘franchises’ often pursue their own agendas, irrespective of the needs and orders of the core leadership.

In this graphic, we have highlighted the five major al Qaeda groups in order to indicate that this organization is not unified in its missions or its goals, and should be confronted with different counterterrorism tools.

To read this Graphic, open the attached PDF.