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Al Zawahiri economic war against the West1 by Laura Quadarella Sanfelice di Monteforte
The war waged by Al Zawahiri against the United States mong the economic wars, the struggle waged by al Qaeda (AQ) against the West, and - to be more precise – the one waged by Al Zawahiri against the United States should certainly be considered. It is a war which, according to the words used by the qaedist leader, is principally waged on the economic layer, having an economic aim, even if this is an aspect which escapes to many people. Both experts and the public opinion are, in fact, concentrated on the direct effects of each attack and on the efforts to prevent others, and they don’t look at the final aim pursued by the jihadist groups, which does not always coincide with those declared on the media. Jihadist terrorism is a subject of enormous attention and interest, causing fears in the West, but which is not always fully understood. One among the factors which are seldom considered is that both States and citizens are sustaining, since years, growing expenditures to defend them from terrorist attacks and to defeat the jihadist groups. Since the September 11 attacks, terrorism has caused the heightening of the security level which states must ensure for their citizens and has changed our life habits. Precisely these economic expenditures are among the principal reasons prompting AQ to promote this steady stream of small bombings in the West. We have all been upsets by the frontal attack carried on by bin Laden men in 2001, and then we have feared other even more bloody attacks, possibly through the dreaded weapons of mass destruction. AQ, instead, has not carried out, any more, attacks having the relevance of those of September 11, and probably has not even attempted to acquire weapons of mass destruction2. This has been due, in part, to the difficulties
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1 The opinions expressed in this article belong to the Author and are not necessarily corresponding to those of the Ministry where She works. 2 See Laura Quadarella Sanfelice di Monteforte, «Le nuove minacce del terrorismo interna-
