From 9/11 to the Arab Spring
The combined effect of intelligence operations, drone attacks, transformations within jihadi ranks, and the Arab Spring has thwarted Al Qaeda's power. While some fragments of the group will probably survive, because they are embedded more deeply within particular localities, Al Qaeda as a global threat is probably finished.
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CAIRO – Al Qaeda’s operating environment today is vastly different from the one in which it launched its most notorious operation, the 9/11 terror attacks. Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda’s founder and charismatic leader, was killed by United States Navy Seals in Pakistan in May. Three brutal Middle East dictatorships were removed this year – two by unarmed civil-resistance tactics and one by a NATO-assisted armed rebellion. Drone attacks have eliminated many of Al Qaeda’s most experienced commanders, including, most recently, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.