After losing its sanctuary in Afghanistan, al-Qaida was forced to alter its strategy. Instead of building an organization on the fringe of the Muslim world, they started supporting Islamist guerrillas in the center, by establishing local “branches” or sister organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. Al-Qaida did not build the organizations from scratch, but tapped into existing insurgent movements and allowed them to use al-Qaida’s brand name. At the same time, al-Qaida continued its international terrorist campaign – not in a ‘covert’ manner from a state-sponsored sanctuary like the Taliban state, but from Muslim tribal areas outside state control such as Waziristan and later Yemen. The ability to adapt, to pursue short and long term goals, and to pursue multiple strategies at the same time are core characteristics of al-Qaida’s strategic behavior. Al-Qaida has become weaker after 2001, but is far from irrelevant.