Is Al-Qaeda interested in expanding into the West, or simply protecting itself?

Is Al-Qaeda interested in expanding into the West, or simply protecting itself?

Jason Burke (Author) gives expert video advice on: What is Al-Qaeda?; What does Al-Qaeda want?; When was Al-Qaeda formed? and more...

Al-Qaeda has two interests in the West, the first is a tactical and strategic interest, if you like, are now involved developing bases of support, developing operations in the West which enabled to strike what they call the "Far Enemy". The "Near Enemy" is the Middle East and Middle Eastern regimes who are all their primary targets and always have been. The second interest is ideological, partly there is a will to spread the word of Radical Islam as far as possible, partly, there is an idea of re-establishing some kind of Islamic State, either in historical bounds as we've seen some centuries ago or even broader than that.