Investigative journalist and al Qa'ida expert Camille Tawil analyses the close and complex links between the group and related Arab jihadi movements in Libya, Egypt and Algeria. Tawil investigates these jihadis' attempts at toppling their Arab governments in the 1990s. He reveals how their failure opened a space for al Qa'ida to focus its attention beyond national frontiers, and ultimately on America. He also argues that despite the potential for discord between the different jihadi groups, US policy has forced them to align themselves with al Qa'ida.