The aim of this book ¿ submitted as part of my Master''s degree in Political Theory - is to examine the motivation behind the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, commencing with examinations of the positions taken in several prominent political theories concerning this issue. The theorists examined are Chalmers Johnson, Benjamin Barber, Mark Jurgensmeyer and Gilles Kepel. I shall also present a tripartite framework for Islamic fundamentalism, to model ideational developments within this sphere and to simplify the task of understanding the motivations of Islamist groups. I shall contend that Islamic fundamentalism actually consists of three distinct variants; bodies whose actions demonstrate distinct nationalised, regionalised and ¿globalised'' ambitions. The paradigm of ¿globalised fundamentalism'', to which I contend that Al Qaeda belong, developed along with ¿regionalised fundamentalism'' from the archetypal existence of ¿nationalised fundamentalism''. I bring this understanding to bear on the deficits of the theories examined.

Charlotte Heath-Kelly is a doctoral student at Aberystwyth University''s Department of International Politics. Her current interests include the role of beliefs in radicalisation, and social theory.