Armed militancy and alternative statehood: Al Qaeda, the Islamic state and revolutionary Islamism

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Burgat
Keyword(s):  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State

Love and Jihad. Female Trajectories from North Caucasus to the Islamic State

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-151
Author(s):  
Denis Sokolov
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Women ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The North ◽  
Caucasian Women

In the 2000s, Al-Qaeda, represented by the Caucasus Emirate, took over the first Chechen resistance, as well as local Islamist armed groups in Dagestan and other republics of the North Caucasus. However, a decade later, the Islamic State won the competition with Al-Qaeda, by including the involvement of women in its project. Hundreds of Russian-speaking Muslim women followed men to live by the rules of Islam. Some joined their husbands or children. Others travelled to the Islamic State in pursuit of love and romance with future husbands they had met on the internet. Based on exclusive interviews done with women detained in the Roj detention camp in the Kurdish territories in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, this article analyzes some of the trajectories that has pushed young North Caucasian women to the Syrian war theater in the name of love.

Islamic State: Understanding the Nature of the Beast and Its Funding

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Martin ◽  
Hussein Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Terrorist Group ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Annual Income ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Holy War ◽  
World Today ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security

The Islamic State (IS) took the global stage in June 2014 and since has become one of the greatest threats to international peace and security. While initially closely affiliated with Al-Qaeda, the IS has proved itself to be a distinct phenomenon of horror—more dangerous than Al-Qaeda. The group essentially established itself in the volatile Middle East, but has infiltrated many parts of the world with the aim of expanding Islam’s Holy War. What certainly makes the IS different from its predecessors is that the group has been labeled the wealthiest terrorist group in the world today. By the fall of 2015, IS generated an annual income of US$2.4 billion. The question for many analysts observing the situation in Syria is: where does the IS gets its money? The aim of this article is to critically observe the nature of IS and its funding requirements and the measures pursued in curtailing the group’s funding.

The Competing Mediations in the Post-Qaddafi Libyan Political Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Kasaija Phillip Apuuli
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
African Union ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Mediation Processes ◽  
The Revolution

Abstract Since the end of the revolution that toppled the rule of Muammar Qaddafi in October 2011, Libya has never known peace. The country descended into civil war with different factions contending for control. In this milieu, the United Nations attempted to mediate an end to the crisis but its efforts have failed to gain traction partly as a result of other mediation initiatives undertaken by several European actors. Sub-regional and continental organizations, including the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the African Union (AU) respectively, that should have taken the lead in the mediation have been absent. Meanwhile, continued fighting has hampered a mediated settlement, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda have taken advantage of the situation to establish a presence in the country. In the end, rather than ending the crisis, Libya has provided the ground for competing mediation processes which have prolonged the crisis.

scholarly journals Weapons of Mass Destruction and Modern Terrorism: Implications for Global Security

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
O. Ike Okoro ◽  
Nduka Lucas Oluka
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Operational Mode ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Counter Measures ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
State Actors

The hazard of biological, chemical and nuclear materials, regarded as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), intercalating the arsenal of terrorists is the biggest crime and challenge against humanity. Every such crime and challenge ought to be named appropriately; and state actors experiencing such owe it to their citizens to act speedily and with certainty against terrorists. Even with the on-going war on terrorism, there has been a surge in terrorist activities in some parts of the world. Terrorists in our contemporary age have also embraced startling trends in their operational mode since the 11 September 2001 fanatic attacks in New York and Washington D. C. The devastating effect of these twin attacks has raised global concern about the potential use of WMD by Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS), and their affiliate groups. One major issue of great concern in recent times, apart from the propensity of the terrorist organizations to acquire WMD, is the involvement of state actors that secretly acquire or claim to have acquired them for the purposes of electricity generation. Notably, too, is the trend in modern scientific and technological improvement which has increased the nature of, and access to, WMD. This research, therefore, attempts to access the implication and impact of WMD as terrorists put them to use. The study also examines the concept of terrorism and WMD. Also examined is the general implication of the use of WMD and the challenges this might pose to the international community, considering the current trends in their acquisition by some states and non-state actors. The investigation suggests appropriate counter-measures to thwart terrorists’ effort to acquire WMD. The study also adopted the qualitative approach of research to analyse the sophistication adopted by new terrorist groups particularly by the ISIS terrorist network; the al-Qaeda group and other splinter groups. Thus, historical research is most appropriate for this study, and secondary source of data was adopted as its methodology.

scholarly journals The Jihadi Current and the Lay Thinking: A “Re-Anchorage” Process Hypothesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-374
Author(s):  
Dorra Ben Alaya
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamist Terrorism ◽  
Familiar Objects ◽  
Theory Of Social Representations

The Jihadi-salafist doctrine which is at the Islamist terrorism origin that affects several countries since the emergence of Al Qaeda in the late 80's, gave birth to the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham/Levant (ISIS/ISIL) established as a Caliphate in 2014. Despite the ISIS official military defeat in 2019, the Jihadi-Salafist current - whose history goes back a long way, is currently behind a number of attacks whether collective or individual, claimed by known organizations or committed in isolation. In our perspective, we try to apprehend the attraction power of the Jihadi narrative issue taking the Theory of Social Representations as a paradigmatic framework. This implies that we dont consider the Jihadi current membership as the manifestation of a deviation from normality or optimal rationality, but as the expression of a certain common sense resonance. More precisely, and taking the case of the Tunisian context, the success of the Jihadi narrative is explained by its effectiveness as an interpretive grid and as a guide for action, making it possible to re-anchor a reality lacking in meaning. This hypothesis of a re-anchoring implies that anchoring as described by Moscovici as one of the two processes at the origin of the social representations formation (with the objectification process), could be not only as a familiarization of the strange by inserting it in an already known pre-existing frame, but by substituting to the frame itself, a new one, in order to be able to insert familiar objects which would have lost their sense precisely because of the old frame itself. This hypothesis could offer a theoretical and heuristic perspective allowing the anchoring process to be conceived as a circular and non-definitive process.

scholarly journals Islamic State in Yemen – A Rival to al-Qaeda?

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Louise Clausen
Keyword(s):  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State

Routes to Power

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-112
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
Trump Administration

This chapter provides a detailed chronology of MBS and MBZ’s respective ascents. Firstly, their dynastic advantages are considered, along with their apparent early career ambitions and accomplishments. Secondly, their charismatic personalities and their relative youth are discussed, including the erection of charismatic facades by their supporters. Thirdly, their ability to position themselves as proponents of major economic reforms and long-term ‘visions’ during periods of economic crisis are emphasized. Fourthly, their capacity to repair Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s international reputations vis-à-vis the historical funding and support of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and (in Saudi Arabia’s case) the Islamic State is investigated. Finally, the apparent mentor-mentee relationship between the more established MBZ and the younger MBS is examined, alongside their recent support from the Donald Trump administration.

Monsters in the “jihadi revolutionary atmosphere”

2019 ◽  
pp. 100-122
Author(s):  
Marco Pinfari
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Palestine Liberation Organization ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

This chapter continues with the analysis of the terrorist “actor” by highlighting how the establishment of a “revolutionary atmosphere” through the use of political violence has been a goal of several insurgent and “terrorist” groups in the Middle East, from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to al-Qaeda in Iraq to the Islamic State. First, it focuses on the reception of European left-wing “terrorism” and third-worldism in the Middle East, especially within the Palestinian nationalist movement. Then, it explains why, in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, several ideologues affiliated with al-Qaeda (including Abu Musab al-Suri) have recommended the use of brutal fighting techniques for establishing what al-Suri described as a “jihadi revolutionary atmosphere.” Finally, it considers the extent to which the impersonation of the prototype of monstrosity (either in its entirety or in its individual components) can help explain the modus operandi of the Islamic State.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document