Abstract: “President Obama has delivered on his campaign promise to kill Osama bin Laden, but as an Al-Qaeda strategist bin Laden has been dead for years. This book introduces the new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders who have been behind the most recent attacks. Syed Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani investigative reporter, has a level of access to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban that Western journalists can only dream of. He has interviewed many top-level strategists and fighters in both movements on multiple occasions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Jordan. In Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban he uses first-hand accounts and his own local knowledge to build up a convincing and compelling picture of the aims and motivation of the leaders and fighters in radical Islamic movements. This is a version of the 'war on terror' that has never been told. It will fascinate anyone concerned with the strategy and tactics of the most controversial Islamic movements”—back cover.

Contents: List of maps—Preface—Prologue—1. A new world : destruction, migration, friends, and foes (p. 1)—2. The politics of war and peace (p. 11)—3. First step : leadership building and transformation of the “sons of the soil” to “blood brothers” (p. 72)—4. Takfeer and Khuruj : an ideological thesis for the separation of Islamists and states (p. 124)—5. Antithesis : debate on the legitimacy of the resistance (p. 150)—6. The synthesis (p. 156)—7. Building the eagles’ nest (p. 177)—8. The theater of war (p. 199)—Epilogue (p. 216)—Notes—Maps—Index.