SECURITY AND GLOBAL TERRORISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE CASE OF THE AL‑QAEDA NETWORK IN IRAQ

* Title and Authors: Security and Global Terrorism in the 21st Century: The Case of the Al-Qaeda Network in Iraq, authored by Israel Kelly and Ezekiel Kelly from the Department of International Relations, School of Social Sciences at Censil University in Monrovia, Liberia (2025). * Main Focus: The study investigates the origin, development, and tactics of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, evaluating how its operations and the broader phenomenon of global terrorism affect regional stability and international security. * Research Questions: The project seeks to answer what political and historical circumstances gave rise to AQI, what effects its operations had on Iraq's governance and internal security, how successful global counterterrorism tactics have been, and what lessons can be learned for future international counterterrorism policies. * Methodology: It employs a qualitative research methodology relying entirely on secondary sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, government and intergovernmental reports, think-tank publications, and scholarly books to analyze historical, political, and ideological settings. * Theoretical Framework: The study utilizes the Theory of Realism to analyze how states respond to non-state actors, viewing terrorism as a direct threat to state sovereignty and national security within an anarchic international system. * Scope and Limitations: Geographically focused primarily on Iraq from the early 2000s through the mid-2010s, the research is constrained by its exclusive use of secondary sources, language/access barriers regarding regional or Arabic documents, and security-sensitive limitations that prohibited primary field interviews.