Whose Monster? A Study in the Rise to Power of al Qaeda and the Taliban

Department Chair

Andrew D. Nicholls, Ph.D., Professor of History

Author

Nicholas Kotarski, State University of New York, Buffalo State CollegeFollow

Date of Award

12-2018

Access Control

Open Access

Degree Name

History, M.A.

Department

History and Social Studies Education Department

Advisor

York A. Norman, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Department Home page

http://history.buffalostate.edu/

First Reader

York A. Norman, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Second Reader

Albert L. Michaels, Ph.D., Professor

Abstract

This thesis seeks to determine which factors and parties were most responsible for the transformation of the Mujahedeen who pushed the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan into what would eventually become al Qaeda and the Taliban in the 1990s. First brought to America's attention due to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, they would gain increased notoriety as the decade progressed due to the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women, and finally culminating in the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001.

Recommended Citation

Kotarski, Nicholas, "Whose Monster? A Study in the Rise to Power of al Qaeda and the Taliban" (2018). History Theses. 47.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/history_theses/47