Bruce Lawrence
Professor emeritus of religion, Duke University
http://religiondepartment.duke.edu/people?Gurl=%2Faas%2FReligion&Uil=bbl...

Lawrence specializes in the comparative study of religious movements; institutional Islam, especially in Asia; the religious masks of violence; and contemporary Islam as an Abrahamic faith and religious ideology. He is also the inaugural director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center.
 
Quote:
"The Arab Spring seemed to augur the end of al-Qaida. At last, there was a better way forward for Muslim critics than extremism: challenge and change the status quo, don't kill the enemy either at home or abroad.

"One year after the take down of bin Laden, and 16 months after the Arab Spring, a crucial question remains unanswered: has new life come to the Arab world, or is the death of bin Laden merely the end of one threat, but not the end of all threats, from a wily Islamist adversary?

"Military historian and popular columnist Max Boot noted one year ago:
'The battle against bin Laden is over; the battle against bin Ladenism continues.' Boot may be right, and if so, the party for this year's first anniversary of bin Laden's death should be restrained, or even canceled."