Kholodkova N.V. Political tactics of the modern terrorist structures functioning: “Al-Qaeda” and “The Islamic State” comparative analysis

Abstract: The paper is aimed at carrying out the comparative analysis of the two largest terrorist organizations – Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State by means of studying the political practice of their functioning. The research object is the terrorist structures, and the research subject is the comparison of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State according to their similarities and differences. Special attention is paid to the concept of terrorism, the peculiarities of the contemporary terrorist organizations, the history of development and the structure of the groups under discussion, and the results of their terrorist activities. The research methodology is based on the comparative analysis of terrorist organizations revealing their similarities and differences according to eight positions. The author applies the structural functional general methodological approach to the consideration of the elements of these organizations, their functions and interdependencies. The author applies the following empirical methods: analysis of documents and the secondary analysis of statistical data. On the base of the comparative study the author analyzes the development of the phenomenon of terrorism using the particular examples. The author concludes that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are very much alike in the object of struggle and some methods of recruiting, have common types of sources of financing and the origins of the military activists, and have the almost equal number of recruiters in different countries. But they differ in the type of organization, the character of actions, the territory of spread and the ideas about the possibility of the soonest coming of Islamic caliphate. 

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