Al-Qaida And The Arab Spring

Does this spring’s Arab revolutions mean the end of al-Qaida?  Not according to a top terrorism watcher.

Wikileaks and al-Qaida are back in the news today, with a big dump of files on prisoners at Guantanamo and new questions about uprisings in the Arab world and al-Qaida's future.

The early view out of Egypt and Tunisia was that the largely secular, Twitter-wielding, pro-democracy youth in the streets of the Arab spring meant a demotion for al-Qaida.  Maybe al-Qaida's doom.  And that may still prove true.  But the uprisings may last longer than springtime.  And al-Qaida is trying to find a way in.

This hour we look at al-Qaida and the turmoil in the Arab world.
- Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Jessica Stern, leading expert on terrorism. She serves on the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law and served on the National Security Council under President Clinton. She is author of "Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill" and "The Utlimate Terrorists."

Peter Bergen, director National Securities Program at the New America Foundation and fellow at New York University's Center on Law & Security. He is author of "The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda."