Walker is a criminal justice professor at UALR 鈥� University of Arkansas at Little Rock 鈥� with an international reputation as an expert on terrorist organizations and counterintelligence.
He left his college classroom just hours after the World Trade Center towers fell and the war in Afghanistan began, called up by the Air Force to rejoin Office of Special Investigations. The 474-member division of the Air Force oversees criminal and counterintelligence operations.
With bin Laden dead, the criminal justice professor said groups of terrorists claiming to be al-Qaida 鈥� some not much more than street thugs; others more sophisticated 鈥� will want the world know the terror organization didn鈥檛 die with its leader.
鈥淭hey will be trying to come up with some action to show they are still alive,鈥� Walker said.
But he said the popular uprisings by the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and others this spring are creating a sea change in the Middle East that some say may be the beginning of the end of the terrorists鈥� jihad against the west.
The resulting new governments might not look like western democracies, but Walker said they appear to be anti-terrorist.
鈥淎t least the movements have largely pro-democracy sentiments, but the key is they are anti-terrorist,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are tired of it. The 鈥楢rab Spring鈥� is putting a new face on the Arab world. But there is one danger 鈥� once a country is unstable, worse elements can take over.鈥�
Before the spring uprisings, citizens of repressive Middle Eastern regimes risked death to complain about their government.
鈥淚f you were a citizen in Saudi Arabia or Syria, for example, you could not rail against your government or you would be killed,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淏ut you could go after all the other groups that are seen as supporting your repressive government 鈥� like the U.S. That鈥檚 what Arab terrorism is all about.鈥�
As the graduate coordinator of UALR鈥檚 criminal justice program, Walker鈥檚 body of research runs the gamut from juvenile hooligans to international terrorism. He has published 27 peer-reviewed articles in top-ranking journals, 28 book chapters, and five books.
He has been a featured speaker at international conferences dealing with counter-terrorism and global security, including the Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security organized by the Turkish National Police under the auspices of prime minister of Turkey.
Walker said al-Qaida, the terrorist organization bin Laden created, is not a tight-knit global organization.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not an organization like the IRA 鈥� the Irish Republican Army,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a hierarchy, where a second-in-command will take when the leader dies. It鈥檚 a philosophy.鈥�
Bin Laden had control over terrorist cells, but most groups calling themselves al-Qaida didn鈥檛 have bin Laden鈥檚 financial support or planning expertize.
鈥淎l-Qaida means 鈥榯he Base鈥�,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淚t picks up other groups with the same philosophy, but there is no established organization. There are some links between bin Laden鈥檚 鈥榖ase鈥� and the group al Qaida in Iraq and some evidence of links with the group al-Qaida in Yemen, but most of the al-Qaida groups are in name only.鈥�
Walker agreed with President Obama鈥檚 decision to seal from public view photographs of bin Laden鈥檚 dead body.
鈥淩eleasing the photos are not going to calm disbelievers and conspiracy theories, but will tend to incite reactions in the Arab world,鈥� he said.
He said he expected some kind of response to bin Laden鈥檚 death, but said a comment made after the terrorist鈥檚 demise may be another sign that times are changing.
鈥淭here was a man on the street reaction on an Al Jazzeera broadcast the other day after bin Laden was killed, who said, 鈥楳aybe now we won鈥檛 be profiled at the airport anymore鈥�.鈥�
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