al-Qaeda

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the name of the al-Qaeda organization, as the terrorist group leading to attacks, quickly spread all around the world, and this group and its leaders and activists were prosecuted. The organization, rooted in Salafi and fundamentalist extremist thoughts, has always been supported by the West and the United States during the Cold War because of his struggle against the Red Army in Afghanistan. But the end of the Cold War and the spread of al-Qaeda’s thoughts to other Islamic countries, as well as the meaning crisis of the end of the Cold War, gradually led to the introduction of this group and similar organizations as enemies and fighting against radicalization of Western policy in the region. However, the war in Afghanistan caused the country to become insecure for al-Qaeda, and they scattered more than before in other countries of the region. The Iraq war also conducted part of these forces to Iraq to fight the Americans. Al-Qaeda has been struggling to rebuild itself all around the world, including western countries, since September 11, taking its flexible network structure into account and has put new tactics on its agenda. The present article examines the ideology and structure of this organization and the changes and continuity of its behavioral pattern and its operation.

This research engages in a comparative analysis of the two most dangerous jihadist terrorist organizations in Iraq: Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The central hypothesis suggests that ISIS poses a more significant risk to social harmony in Iraq than Al-Qaeda. The primary goal of this study is to assess and compare the distinct impact of these prominent terrorist groups on social peace in the Iraqi context. By examining their respective ideologies, strategies, and targeted demographics, this research aims to shed light on the varying levels of threat they pose to communal cohesion and regional security. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology was employed, utilizing secondary sources to investigate the threats that Al-Qaeda and ISIS pose to social peace in Iraq. The findings of this study provide compelling evidence supporting the claim that ISIS (Daesh) presents a significantly greater threat to social peace in Iraq compared to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. .