ABSTRACT
In recognizing terrorism as a group process, 1 the psychological qualities of affiliation or even group membership quickly become apparent for the extreme potential both to attract members and to bind them together via sustained commitment and engagement. This point is well recognized by leadership figures. In interviews conducted with Omar Bakri Mohammed 2 in Tripoli, Lebanon, the one-time leader of al-Muhajiroun lamented the fact that groups have to be able to deliver on the allure they project to increasingly well-informed recruits. Bakri warned that “Sheikh Google” now enables potential members to learn far more about the benefits or otherwise of affiliation before they seek out actual opportunities for engagement. In some cases, conformity and strict obedience are organizational cornerstones that leaders put in place to enhance the effective maintenance of a difficult, clandestine existence. It follows, then, that maintaining such conformity is paramount, and having a shared purpose or sense of unity and direction, which in itself is catalyzed by having a clearly identifiable enemy, facilitates this.
