The Hudson Institute has published an article that seeks to answer fundamental questions about al Qa’ida’s structure given debates among terrorism experts, such as whether the group is even a single, coherent organization or more akin to a social movement, devoid of hierarchy and without a concrete structure. The article’s authors assert that a lack of consensus among experts on key questions impedes the ability to anticipate the behavior of al-Qa’ida and its affiliates and to counter their future operations. The authors purport to have made two important findings, which are discussed at length in their article. They are: 1) al-Qa’da remains a coherent and centralized organization, albeit one that is not perfectly centralized; and 2) al-Qa’ida’s leadership continues to be essential in determining both the trajectory of the organization as well as its strategic direction. Furthermore, its affiliates generally continue to adhere to the goals, objectives and strategies outlined by the organization’s senior leadership, adapting their tactics to local dynamics as allowed by al-Qaeda’s flexible organizational model. The Hudson Institute.