Hoffman vs. Sageman: Myth of Grassroots Terrorism

[tequila]

Bruce Hoffman comes out with a brutal review in Foreign Affairs of Dr. Marc Sageman's new book: Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the 21st Century.

Basically he argues that Sageman radically underestimates al-Qaeda Central's organizational strength and reach, and thinks that Sageman's methods lead him incorrectly to focus entirely on spontaneous jihadists inspired by rather than controlled by al-Qaeda. Hoffman believes that the main terrorist threat remains al-Qaeda and its associated organizations, rather than Sageman's theory of a disassociated movement of individual and small groups.

I haven't read Sageman's book, but Hoffman has him dead to rights on the historical inaccuracies (according to Hoffman, Sageman apparently believes that Gavrilo Princip was part of a 'leaderless' movement of anarchists, while the PIRA began life in a New York City bar). Thoughts?