Aptitude for Destruction Volume II: Case Studies of Organizational Learning in Five Terrorist Groups

• NCJ Number: 211209
• Author(s): Brian A. Jackson, John C. Baker, Kim Cragin, John Parachini, Horatio R. Trujillo, Peter Chalk
• Date Published: January 2005
• Length: 213 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Tactical & Operational Learning by Terrorist Groups

Annotation

This second volume of a two-volume study of organizational learning in terrorist groups contains five indepth case studies of terrorist groups.

Abstract

The five terrorist groups studied are Aum Shinrikyo, a religious cult that pursued chemical and biological weapons; Hizballah, a social and political movement with insurgent and terrorist aims and activities; Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a smaller, better defined terrorist group linked to and influenced by the global Jihadism movement; the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), a traditional ethnic terrorist group with a long operational history; and the radical environmentalist movement represented by the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, which are examples of a less-defined terrorist "front" of a broader ideological movement. Each organization is described under the same topical format of background, operations and tactics, training, logistics, and intelligence and operational security. These five terrorist groups were selected as case studies for terrorist organizational learning because each has a reputation for innovative activities. Following the case studies, two chapters discuss the theory and application of organizational learning to terrorist groups. Specifically, they address organizational learning as a four-component process (acquisition, interpretation, distribution, and storage) and the application of these four components to the case study groups. Chapter references