Suggestions for Improving the Recruitment of al- Qaeda Sources: Lessons Derived from Counter-Ideological Programs and the Targeting of Type B Terrorist

How can the FBI improve the recruitment of sources within terrorist groups, specifically al-Qaeda? First, counter-ideological programs have application in source recruitment. Second, a framework for recruiting terrorist sources is found in the work of Paul Davis and Brian Jenkins. They suggest terrorists can be usefully categorized as internalists or externalists, or Types A and B. Type A terrorists have insatiable appetites and display emotional aggression. Type B terrorists have instrumental aggression and “pragmatic world goals.” Significantly, research suggests terrorists displaying instrumental aggression, the Type B terrorist, should be more “sensitive” to “objective rewards and punishments.” Two case studies demonstrate how to determine if a potential terrorist source is either a Type A or Type B individual. This is accomplished by examining a potential source’s background to determine if they have
instrumental or emotional aggression, their levels of risk and ideological commitment, their part-time or full-time commitment to jihad, and if they have high or low Social Intensity Syndrome. The conclusion of this thesis is that the
FBI should concentrate recruitments on the more pragmatic Type B terrorists.