Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 34

(Photo by Hosam Katan, Reuters)

Members of al-Qaida’s al-Nusra Front pause in a trench 25 November 2014 near the village of al-Zahra, north of Aleppo, Syria. Members
of al-Nusra and other Sunni Islamist insurgents clashed with pro-government fighters in an attempt to capture the Shi’ite Muslim village.

Understanding
Today’s Enemy

The Grand Strategists of
Modern Jihad
Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Editor’s note: The following article is a chapter extract from Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War, by Dr. Sebastian Gorka, published here by his permission coincident with publication of the full book by Regnery Publishing, April 2016. Gorka is the Major
General Matthew C. Horner Distinguished Chair of Military Theory at Marine Corps University. We appreciate his gracious
permission to republish this highly relevant material.
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May-June 2016  MILITARY REVIEW