Understanding charismatic leadership within militant Islamism : a motivational study of Osama Bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki

Sammanfattning: Militant Islamism is a phenomenon that has received significant attention during the lastdecades. Security scholars and policymakers have attempted to cope with the growingconcern of sympathizers willing to carry out terrorist attacks, but until today the need for afurther understanding of circumstances motivating this violence still remains. This causesdifficulties in effective policy responses to tackle militants as well as it strengthens hatredand equivocal perceptions on Islamic practices. This thesis is constituted on the idea that charismatic leadership partakes in the motivationalforces behind militant sympathizers. The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship ofself-concepts provided by charismatic leadership theory towards the contents exposed bymilitant leaders within Islamism. This relationship is examined in an analytical study ofspeeches through the cases of two former representative and inspirational leaders of militantIslamism: Osama Bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki. The idea is to contribute with a motivational account that is also sensitive to the context ofthis specific leadership based on past research. Remarks are thus exposed through aframework of concepts by Boas Shamir in charismatic leadership and the assisting tools of aqualitative content analysis. A deeper comprehension of how charismatic leadershipfunctions is significant for the future of policies in Islamist militancy and leadership.Following results indicates to pursue the joint study of Islamist militancy in relation tocharismatic response for more conclusive research.