Publication

This report describes the nature of the financial network sustaining al-Qaida and the obstacles to dismantling it. The authors argue that the Bush administration's efforts are strategically inadequate, and that the only realistic goal is to curb rather than completely cut off terrorist funding. The report finds that United States efforts to curtail terrorist financing are impeded not only by a lack of institutional capacity abroad, but also by a lack of political will among US allies such as Saudi Arabia. The authors call on the Bush administration to lead an initiative to create a new international organization dedicated solely to curbing terrorist financing.