scholarly journals The Exploitation of Crises: ‘Jihadist’ Terrorism, Far-Right Extremism, and Organized Crime in the Shadow of Coronavirus

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-176
Author(s):  
Abdullah A. Al-Saud

يهدف هذا البحث إلى تسليط الضوء على موضوع مستجد ومهم، وهو دراسة الأبعاد الأمنية لأزمة جائحة فيروس كورونا من خلال قراءة انعكاساتها على مجموعة مختلفة من الجماعات والمنظمات الإرهابية والمتطرّفة والإجرامية. ويركّز البحث بالتحديد على تنظيمي داعش والقاعدة الإرهابيين، ونماذج من جماعات أقصى اليمين المتطرّف والجريمة المنظّمة كحالات للدراسة، وينطلق من فرضيّة أنه على الرغم من تحدّيات أزمة جائحة كورونا بتبعاتها الصحيّة والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والسياسية، فإنها أبرزت فرصًا سانحة لاستغلال هذه الجماعات والتنظيمات. وقد اعتمدت الدراسة على الأسلوب الوصفي التحليلي ضمن المنهج الكيفي/النوعي، وذلك من خلال الرجوع للعديد من المصادر والبيانات الأوليّة والرئيسة للجماعات محل الدراسة لقراءة وتحليل تفسيراتهم للأزمة، وكذلك مراقبة ودراسة ردود أفعالهم تجاهها على أرض الواقع.  وقد توصّلت الدراسة إلى مجموعة من النتائج والتوصيات، من أهمّها أن مناخ الأزمات بشكل عام، وأزمة فيروس كورونا بشكل خاص، شكَّل فرصًا للقابعين على الأطراف الراديكالية للأطياف الفكريّة والوجود القانوني، على اختلافهم وتضادّهم الفكري، لمدّ النفوذ والتكسّب المادي والمعنوي. وذلك من خلال استغلال تعزيز الأزمة لخطوط التماس والتوتّر داخل المجتمعات، وإبرازها لفراغات السلطة الناتجة عن عدم قدرة، أو رغبة من بعض الدول للارتقاء وملء الفراغ. يستتبع ذلك - لنزع فتيل محفّزات التطرّف في بيئة ما بعد كورونا - أهميّة العمل على تعزيز التعاون الدولي والإقليمي لمواجهة الآثار السلبية لهذه الجائحة على الدول والمجتمعات والفئات الأكثر تضرّرًا، والتفكير بنظرة أكثر شموليّة تجاه سياقات الإرهاب المتحوّرة، وتبنّي رؤية استشرافية ومنهجيّة استباقيّة لمواجهة التحوّلات المحتملة في البيئات الإرهابية والمتطرّفة والإجرامية. 

Südosteuropa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-531
Author(s):  
Spyridon Tsoutsoumpis

Abstract The article unravels the ties between conservatism, the state, and the far right in Greece. It explores the complex social and political reasons which facilitated the emergence of far-right groups in Greece during the civil war and have allowed them to survive for seven decades and to flourish from time to time. The author pays particular attention to paramilitarism as a distinct component of the Greek far right. He follows the activities of ‘Golden Dawn’ and other far-right groups, in particular their paramilitary branches. To the wider public, among the most shocking aspects of the rise of ‘Golden Dawn’ was the use of violence by its paramilitary branch, tagmata efodou. The article examines the far right’s relationship to the state and the security services, and explores its overall role in Greek politics and society. He demonstrates how an understanding of the decades following the civil war are indispensable to making sense of recent developments.


STADION ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-93
Author(s):  
Ilan Rachum

Nation-building, a process allowing the moral integration of humans in a certain polity though they might belong to different social strata, hardly made progress in 19th century Brazil, where illiteracy was widespread and where a huge gap separated the wealthy elite from all of the rest - blacks, poor people of mixed ethnicities and first generation recent immigrants. By supplying a dynamic arena where all of the above could compete on equal terms football introduced a valuable instrument of nation-building, and the great successes in international competitions added to its capacity. Right now, however, Brazil is facing huge problems in its urban centers, such as proliferation in the use of drugs and loss of control over city life to organized crime. Together with this its political elite and elected office holders have been tainted with corruption, and the current president, representing the rich and the far right, is devoid of commitments to the vast majority of poor Brazilians. It is difficult to see how football can be of help in the complexities of the present.


Significance These are the first terrorist attacks on EU territory since the Paris attacks in November 2015. The attacks on Zaventem Airport and Maelbeeck metro station come just four days after Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the events in Paris, was arrested in Brussels. Impacts As Belgium emerges as the central HQ for jihadist terrorism in Europe, pressure on the authorities to tighten security will increase. European solidarity will be tested and new measures are to be expected. Far-right movements might thrive even more in the EU. New security policies may be implemented, including more border controls.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (188) ◽  
pp. 487-494
Author(s):  
Daniel Mullis

In recent years, political and social conditions have changed dramatically. Many analyses help to capture these dynamics. However, they produce political pessimism: on the one hand there is the image of regression and on the other, a direct link is made between socio-economic decline and the rise of the far-right. To counter these aspects, this article argues that current political events are to be understood less as ‘regression’ but rather as a moment of movement and the return of deep political struggles. Referring to Jacques Ranciere’s political thought, the current conditions can be captured as the ‘end of post-democracy’. This approach changes the perspective on current social dynamics in a productive way. It allows for an emphasis on movement and the recognition of the windows of opportunity for emancipatory struggles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Alexander A Caviedes

This article explores the link between migrants and crime as portrayed in the European press. Examining conservative newspapers from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2016, the study situates the press coverage in each individual country within a comparative perspective that contrasts the frequency of the crime narrative to that of other prominent narratives, as well as to that in the other countries. The article also charts the prevalence of this narrative over time, followed by a discussion of which particular aspects of crime are most commonly referenced in each country. The findings suggest that while there has been no steady increase in the coverage of crime and migration, the press securitizes migration by focusing on crime through a shared emphasis on human trafficking and the non-European background of the perpetrators. However, other frames advanced in these newspapers, such as fraud or organized crime, comprise nationally distinctive characteristics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-226
Author(s):  
Soner Tauscher

Avrupa ülkelerinin alışık olduğu düzenli işçi göçü ve kontrollü sığınmacı alımı Suriye iç savaşının üst düzeye ulaştığı 2013/2014 yılından itibaren önemli bir değişim göstermektedir. Avrupa Birliği, kuruluşundan bu yana en yoğun mülteci göçüyle karşılaşmaktadır. Yaşanan bu kontrolsüz ve zorunlu göçe Avrupa toplumları ve devletleri hazırlıksız yakalanmıştır. Mülteci krizini ekonomik olarak fırsata çevirmek isteyen Almanya ise göçmenler için 2015 yazından itibaren açık kapı politikası uygulamaya başlamıştır. Ancak uygulanan açık kapı politikası Alman toplumunun azımsanmayacak bir kesiminde mültecilere ve Müslümanlara yönelik ağır ve şiddetli bir karşı kampanya ortaya çıkardı. Mülteciler ve Müslümanlar aşırı sağ toplumsal hareketlerin gösterilerinde “tecavüzcü”, “işgalci”, “kriminal dolandırıcılar” vb. sıfatlar ile birlikte anılmakta, medya da bu söylemlerin taşıyıcılığını yaparak kamusallaşmasını sağlamaktadır. Böylece aşırı sağı desteklemeyen, apolitik, ya da sığınmacılara karşı hoşgörülü davranan toplum kesimlerinde kamuoyu oluşturularak sığınmacı ve göçmenlere karşı olumsuz algı gündemde tutulmakta, politik olanın merkezine yerleştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada öncelikle göçmenlere karşı aşırı sağ toplumsal hareketlerin oluşturduğu olumsuz söylemin McCombs ve Shaw’un Gündem Belirleme Kuramı (Agenda Setting Function) bağlamında medya tarafından siyasetin merkezine nasıl oturtulduğu tartışılacaktır. Ayrıca gündemde tutulan mültecilere yönelik olumsuz söylemin gerçeği yansıtıp yansıtmadığı, göçmenlerin ve sığınmacıların biyolojik Almanlardan daha çok suça meyilli olup olmadığı oluşturulan soyut söylemlerden ziyade Almanya İçişleri Bakanlığı’nın yıllık olarak yayınladığı Emniyet Suç İstatistikleri temel alınarak incelenecektir.ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHFar right movements in Germany and evaluation of media discourse of criminal immigrant in the light of official documentsFlows of regular worker migration and regular asylum seekers, of whom European countries are familiar, have significantly changed since 2013/2014 when the civil war of Syria reached its peak. The European Union face probably the most intensive refugee migration since its establishment. European societies and states have not been prepared for this uncontrolled and compulsory immigration. Germany seem to want to turn the refugee crisis into an economic opportunity as evident in their open door policy since the summer of 2015. However, implementation of open-door policy has led a substantial part of German society to a strong campaign against the refugees and Muslims. Refugees and Muslims are referred to as “rapists”, “invaders”, “criminal fraudsters”, and so on in demonstrations of far right movements and media has helped disseminating these discourses. Hence, this manipulated and hateful discourse tries to gain support from the segment of society wh normally does not support far right and often apolitical, or tolerant towards asylum seekers. In this study, the ways in which the negative discourse of far right social movements against immigrants is brought to the centre of the political agenda by media is analysed using the agenda setting framework by McCombs and Shaw. Then, the claims that immigrants are involved in crime, or they are prone to be criminals are analysed and contrasted with the data obtained from the annual Crime and Safety Reports of the German Ministry of the Interior.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document