ABSTRACT
This chapter shows considerable divergence of opinion on the organisational structure of transnational terrorist groups. Indeed, some transnational terrorist groups have a network-based organisational structure composed of cells which for the most part operate independently of one another. Drawing on Max Weber's organisational theory the chapter investigates the organisational structure of the transnational terrorist group in light of Marighella's theory of urban guerrilla warfare. Marighella's theory of urban guerrilla warfare has directly fed into modern organisational network theory which posits that the organisational structure of some armed groups is network based rather than hierarchical in nature. Indeed, through the use of 'modern means of communication, shared ideology helps connect the fragmented, dispersed, isolated or informally interlinked elements of modern networks'. The lack of a centralised command within some transnational terrorist groups means that the cells resort to consensus decision-making in formulating the overall policy and ideology of the group.
