The “old” terrorism that was prominent after the 1960s in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin American envisioned a socialist revolution. Although violence was part of the effort to achieve social and political change under a socialist/communist ideology, the ideology’s emphasis on serving the needs of common people placed restraints on the taking of lives of civilians who were not representatives of the status-quo political system. The new terrorism as reflected in Islamic jihadism, however, is committed to violence as a mandated means of establishing a right-wing ideological/religious state. All who persist in and give allegiance to other religions and political systems deserve to die. Al-Qaeda under Osama bin Laden set the model for the ideology and tactics of radical Islamic terrorism. The September 11 attacks in the United States were planned and implemented under the funding, training, and recruitment activities of the al-Qaeda leadership. The relative centralization of radical Islamic terrorism under the al-Qaeda leadership changed after September 11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Islamic terrorist activity has now become more dispersed and decentralized. As noted by Richard Clarke, al-Qaeda is now a “many-headed hydra that is just as deadly and far harder to slay.” The Internet is used by al-Qaeda and like-minded groups to provide some coordination in the midst of the dispersion of leadership after September 11. The promotion of al-Qaeda ideology and tactics of violence throughout the Islamic world must be the focus of current counterterrorism efforts. 9 references