According to the editors of this book, North Africa has become a hotbed of terrorist activity in recent years, as demonstrated by several events in the region. Representing, as it does, a potential threat to NATO's southern flank, this area can no longer be ignored, they say. This book presents the proceedings of the NATO Centre of Excellence, Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) Advanced Research Workshop entitled 'The Terrorist Threat in North Africa from a NATO Perspective', held in Ankara, Turkey, in the November 2013. Subjects covered include the changing nature of North African terrorism; the rise of Al Qaeda in North Africa; financing terrorism in North Africa; the legal framework of military operations against terrorism in North Africa and the relationship between international terrorism and terrorism in North Africa, among others. Also included in the book is the keynote address given by Prof. Yonah Alexander of the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies and entitled 'Terrorism in North Africa and the Sahel: Threats and Responses' The book provides insights to further the understanding of terrorism in North Africa, and will be of interest to all those involved in the development of counterterrorism policies to combat this threat.

Since the 9/11 attacks, America's understanding of Al Qaeda has evolved along with the organization itself. In recent years attention to Al Qaeda's so called "affiliates" in Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and most recently Syria has overtaken concern about Al Qaeda's core in Pakistan. The North African terrorist organization Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is one such affiliate. Many Americans first became familiar with AQIM when media reports linked it loosely to the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compounds in Benghazi, Libya on 9/11/12 that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. The horrific hostage crisis at an Algerian gas facility in January 2013, which was far more closely linked to the group, further increased concern about the threat it posed and played into anxieties about what many viewed as a resurgent Al Qaeda threat. This assessment of the threat from AQIM is based on an analysis of available open-source documentation. The authors find that although AQIM is a serious regional problem, its similarity to the Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden should not be exaggerated, as AQIM does not currently seem bent on global jihad. In most situations, the wisest policy responses to the AQIM threat will focus on supporting local actors and U.S. allies in Europe.

Al Qaeda and other terror groups have long enjoyed the use of nations like Afghanistan to train for and launch attacks because of the large ungoverned spaces and the ability to disappear among the populations. Because of the push by coalition forces, however, terror groups have had to relocate, and have found a new home in the Maghreb and the Horn of Africa where they have established new training camps, and use these areas to launch attacks on Western Europe and the United States. In order to prevent future terrorist attacks, the United States and her allies must recognize the growing threat in the region and work to eliminate the causes or radicalism within the local populations as well as the terror groups themselves.

The terrorist threat in North Africa : before and after Benghazi: joint hearing before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, first session, July 10, 2013.