The purpose of this paper is to describe the threat posed by Islamic extremist movements to the United States. Recent unsettling events have focussed America's attention to the potential threat presented by countries and movements dominated by the radical version of the Islamic religion. These events include the 1979 hostage taking at the American embassy in Tehran, the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, the 1983 bombing of the Marine headquarters in Beirut, the kidnapping of American citizens during the 1980s which resulted in the brutal murders of two of the hostages, the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847 and murder of a U.S. serviceman aboard, Desert Storm, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.