The group has faced multiple challenges since the US invasion to Afghanistan in 2001:
- losing its safe haven in Afghanistan,
- its failure to dictate its vision on its Iraqi branch al-Qaeda in Iraq,
- the challenge of the Arab spring's ability of peaceful change,
- the death of Bin laden as a charismatic leader capable of containing disagreements between the group and its affiliates and the emergence of its rival the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham ISIS, which has been fighting its branches and attracting many of its file and ranks.
Thats is being said, the three researchers contend that al-Qaeda as a mother umbrella is rather feeble and incapable of controlling and guiding its affiliates which enjoy a high level of independence.