Islamist radicalization in the United States and the influence of Western jihadist ideologues

Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-77).As the terrorist threat continues to become increasingly homegrown, a key way to combat it is to develop an understanding of how radicalization in the United States works and to formulate ways to prevent potential radicalization from morphing into violent extremism. This thesis has examined domestic Islamist terrorism and terrorism-related activity over the last 12 years in conjunction with the Western jihadist propaganda that extols and propels such activity from two of the most verbal and respected (in radical circles) American terrorist ideologues: Adam Gadahn and Anwar al-Awlaki. Taken together, a pattern of radicalization emerges, revealing the process of how those living legally in the United States and who are immersed in American culture can turn violently against their neighbors for the purpose of destroying the country and the Western way of life in the name of Allah. The process examined in this thesis exposes weak spots in the radicalization of Americans that can be targeted to both decrease the pool from which terrorist propagandists "recruit" and decrease the motivation of potential terrorists for continuing down the path of violent jihad, effectively helping to combat terrorism in Americ