The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden - Case Study Example Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi citizen, was born to a self-made Saudi construction billionaire.   His family life was somewhat unstable as evidenced in the fact that his mother was his father’s tenth wife and was divorced early in his childhood.   With three half brothers and sisters from his mother’s side and over fifteen from his father’s, it would be hard to assume that he benefited from a stable home environment. Nevertheless, while his family life may have been unstable, familial wealth afforded him countless opportunities and experiences.   These included education in the best private schools in Saudi Arabia, education in Europe and the United States as well as unlimited world travel and contact with the global economic and social elite (Jacquard, 2002). Despite these and countless other opportunities, Bin Laden exhibited a persistent tendency towards religious fanaticism and upon the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, joined the mujahedeen forces. Born in 195 7, Bin Laden’s childhood period coincided with the collapse of colonialism and the rise of Arab and Islamic nationalism. His childhood and youth, therefore, unfolded during a period of politically inspired religious and nationalistic fervor. The degree to which the stated influenced him is amply evidenced in his response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As Gunaratna (2002) explains, bin Laden immediately responded to the United States’ call for the liberation of Afghanistan, a Muslim territory, from the atheistic communist forces headed by the Soviet Union and joined the ranks of the mujahideen. During this period he was exposed to extremist Islamic ideology and, according to Gunaratna (2002, p. 21), was afforded the opportunity to establish â€Å"close relationships with several religious authorities,† most of whom like Omar Abdel Rahman, were living in exile having The times into which Osama Bin Laden was born and the way he interacted with and responded to them determined his evolution into a terrorist. It is within the context of these times that the events of September 11th assume a type of inevitability.