There has been considerable speculation that Asimov's writing in some way influenced various global terrorist movements, including Aum Shinrikyo and Al-Qaeda. The Guardian on 24 August 2002 quoted David Kaplan, author of The Cult at the End of the World, as saying "Aum's bible was, believe it or not, the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov."
It has not escaped notice that "The Foundation" was translated into Arabic as "Al-Qaeda." Although the most authoritative statement on the subject by bin Laden in October 2001 attributes the name to "mere chance," the organization almost never used that term to describe itself until after the September 11 attacks, calling itself instead "International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders." It appears that the term "Al-Qaeda" was popularized and possibly coined within the American intelligence community as a label for various intercepts and other collected material relating to the loosely organized group. The term first gained public notoriety through US criminal charges against the group's leaders in connection with embassy bombings.
As eerie as that is, i'd have to say that if these groups did draw inspiration from Asimov they missed the point entirely.
Each of the crises (or "Seldon Cris[es]") is brought to a head through social movement and action. The overwhelming victories that The Foundation realize are all brought about through intelligent avoidance of physical harm, destruction, and chaos. I think it is Salvor Hardin who voices Asimov's philosophy that "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent," a philosophy at the core of every bit of his writing. No matter how chaotic and corrupt the current power structure, those fighting to overthrow it always do it in smart, non-violent ways (the only exception being The Mule). There are plenty of war philosophers who do advocate intelligence and violence. It would seem that Al-Quaeda would be more accurately linked to them in spite of their name's translation.
For all we know, the label "Al-Qaeda" was coined by an Arabic translator at NSA who happened to be an Asimov fan. There is no question that any comparison is incongruous, since Asimov was a rather committed pacifist.
It has not escaped notice that "The Foundation" was translated into Arabic as "Al-Qaeda." Although the most authoritative statement on the subject by bin Laden in October 2001 attributes the name to "mere chance," the organization almost never used that term to describe itself until after the September 11 attacks, calling itself instead "International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders." It appears that the term "Al-Qaeda" was popularized and possibly coined within the American intelligence community as a label for various intercepts and other collected material relating to the loosely organized group. The term first gained public notoriety through US criminal charges against the group's leaders in connection with embassy bombings.
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Each of the crises (or "Seldon Cris[es]") is brought to a head through social movement and action. The overwhelming victories that The Foundation realize are all brought about through intelligent avoidance of physical harm, destruction, and chaos.
I think it is Salvor Hardin who voices Asimov's philosophy that "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent," a philosophy at the core of every bit of his writing.
No matter how chaotic and corrupt the current power structure, those fighting to overthrow it always do it in smart, non-violent ways (the only exception being The Mule).
There are plenty of war philosophers who do advocate intelligence and violence. It would seem that Al-Quaeda would be more accurately linked to them in spite of their name's translation.
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