ABSTRACT
Big events in world politics, Peter Gourevitch noted long ago,l provide students of international relations and comparative politics with the closest thing to a natural experiment. The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 are no exception. The AIQaeda terrorist organization, an extensive cross-border network of violence-prone groups and individuals, created with its attacks a second "day of infamy" reminiscent of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Those terrorists involved in the attacks held fervently religious beliefs, came from a wide variety of national backgrounds, were well educated, practiced secular lifestyles, and moved unobtrusively in liberal societies. Loosely linked through both a common vision
and a few trusted emissaries, AIQaeda appears to form neither a clear network nor a clear hierarchy. Its organization thus differs from groups traditionally engaged in left-or right-wing violence in industrial societies.2
