Al Qaeda Research Articles

Finding the Right Islam for the Maldives: Political Transformation and State-Responses to Growing Religious Dissent

At the first glance, the Maldives appear not to be prone to religious conflict. The archipelago state comprises a religiously and ethnically homogenous society, the different islands have been subject to shared Islamic rule for centuries and even constitutionally religious homogeneity is granted by making every citizen a Muslim and religious diversity prevented by limiting naturalisation to a specific Muslim group. Yet, today allegations of a threat to Islam play a major role in political mobilisation, the Maldives are faced with Islamist violence, and Maldivians have joined the Islamic State and al Qaeda in disproportionally high numbers. The paper seeks to find an answer to the question of how the repression of dissent under the Gayoom regime and the expansion and rise of violent Islamism relate in the Maldivian context. Next to the theoretical model, the paper will provide an introduction to the Maldivian political culture and the reasons for changes therein. It will shed light on the emergence of three major Islamic streams in the Maldivian society, which stood opposed to one another by the late 1990s and early 2000s, and show how Gayoom’s state repression of dissent initiated an escalation process and furthered Islamist violent politics. The paper will argue that while state repression of dissent played a significant role in the repertoire selection of Islamic non-state agents, the introduction of fundamentalist Islamic interpretations through migration, educational exchange programmes and transnational actors have laid the ground for violence in the Maldives.

The Truth Is Out There: The Prevalence of Conspiracy Theory Use by Radical Violent Extremist Organizations

ABSTRACT This project examined conspiracy theory use across three types of groups: radical violent extremists (RVE), nonviolent extremists, and moderates. Using the theory of significance quest, or the desire for one’s life to have meaning, the current project determined whether RVE groups were more likely to use conspiracy theories and promote loss of significance in violent passages than the other groups. Using text analysis software, researchers coded passages from six groups—two from each level of extremism—for conspiratorial and/or violent content. RVE groups were significantly more likely than the other groups to use conspiracy theories and promote violence. This pattern held for groups focused on radical Islamic fundamentalism as well as white supremacy groups. The pattern was more complex for loss of significance: in violent passages, neo-Nazis were significantly more likely than ISIS and Al Qaeda to promote loss of significance. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Words and violence: militant Islamist attacks on bloggers in Bangladesh and the UK

ABSTRACT From 2013, groups associated with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent systematically targeted secular bloggers and writers in Bangladesh and its international diaspora for brutal killings and relentless harassment. At least twelve writers were killed after 2013. This article explores the historical context of the violence, including in the UK, a site of enduring conflicts between secular and political Islamist Bangladeshis. The context includes memories of the 1971 Bangladeshi genocide and the charged political environment after 2009 arising from the International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) that had sought to bring perpetrators of the genocide to trial. The rise of political blogging in the Bangladeshi diaspora and the impact of the killings is explored. A range of conceptual issues are discussed, including the power of social media in the killings and the mobilization of political fear. The article is based on depth interviews with Bangladeshi bloggers and activists living under threat.

No, Afghanistan Is Not Really Vietnam All Over Again

On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Afghan Taliban signed an agreement in Doha, Qatar, bringing the United States potentially closer to ending the war in Afghanistan than at any point in the conflict's eighteen-year history. After months of military escalations, negotiations, and recriminations, the United States agreed to a token withdrawal of several thousand forces by August 2020 and to remove all remaining forces by May 2021. The Afghan government had been cut out of the talks, but the United States also vowed to encourage it to release thousands of Taliban prisoners and to enter into its own negotiations with the Taliban in order to pave the way to a permanent ceasefire agreement. For its part, the Taliban agreed to negotiate with Kabul after the troop withdrawals began and to halt cooperation with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

America’s Use of Terror: From Colonial Times to the A-Bomb. By Stephen Huggins (Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 2019) 368 pp. $39.95

Huggins’ book is a detailed retelling of the United States’ use of violence against non-combatants. It advances two central arguments—first, that states, not just non-state actors, commit terrorism and, second, in the deliberate targeting of non-combatants, the United States is no exception. Like other nationalities, Americans have often attacked non-combatants when it suits their interests. In defending these positions, Huggins uses clear argumentation and highly accessible case studies from U.S. history.The first argument hinges on Huggins’ definition of terrorism as the deliberate attacking of non-combatants to alter their political will. He rules out both wanton, apolitical violence and genocide as neither act is about coercion but about revenge or sadism and extermination, respectively. Given the many competing definitions of terrorism in the legal, academic, and policy worlds, the addition of a new definition is neither necessary nor surprising. Still, Huggins’ view is worth considering as it has significant consequences for our understanding of political violence.Although Huggins’ definition prevents states from escaping the label of terrorism and aids in impugning immoral state actions, it muddies our understanding of violent behavior. Are aerial bombardment, state repression, lynchings, the burning of Native American villages, and the 9/11 attacks all best understood as one and the same phenomenon? Certainly they are all coercive acts centered on the repugnant killing of non-combatants. However, racial violence, state repression, and warfare have varying logics and are often studied separately. It is unclear that the strategic calculations of white supremacists, al Qaeda, Curtis LeMay, and George Custer are the same. Hence, although defining terrorism broadly aids condemnations of state actions and highlights them as forms of coercion, it clouds our understanding of the strategic thinking underlying these various forms of political violence. Huggins’ book makes clear that such trade-offs are inherent to any definition of terrorism and thus inescapable. Whether the gains from Huggins’ definition are worth the losses depends on readers’ interests.Huggins has a much easier time making his second argument. Through detailed case studies ranging from the 1600s to the 1940s, he shows that the U.S. government and private U.S. citizens have regularly attacked non-combatants, especially if they perceived those non-combatants as racial or ideological others. He covers a wide variety of instances, including wars with Native Americans, the repression of slaves in antebellum America and of blacks under Jim Crow, the use of torture in the Philippines, and the firebombing of Axis cities in World War II. Although these cases do not break new historical ground, having them all in one book makes for powerful, if grim, reading. They also make a compelling case against American exceptionalism—the theory that the United States is fundamentally different and better than other nations.Huggins sometimes includes attacks arguably outside his definition of terrorism. For instance, many campaigns against Native American tribes were genocidal in nature, and some of the detailed atrocities appear to have been acts of wanton violence driven by rage, rather than calculated political acts. He also occasionally references unintentional, collateral casualties, such as civilian victims during the siege of Vicksburg. His definition, however, could easily be modified to include such acts. The central point about Americans not being exceptional stands.Ultimately, the book is important for two reasons: (1) It forces Americans to come to terms with some of the more unsavory elements of their history, and (2) it illustrates that definitions of contentious concepts like terrorism shape how we analyze the world. In the absence of no singular, correct definition of terrorism, Huggins’ more expansive conception highlights the ways in which states often parallel or exceed the brutal actions of non-state groups in their attacks on non-combatants. For these reasons, the book is well worth reading.

A Struggle for Power: Al Nusra and Al Qaida in Syria

Relying on interviews with members of the organization, the article argues (contrary to the prevailing view) that Al Nusra never split from Al Qaida and even more so from the global jihadist movement. Instead the leadership of Al Nusra was locked in a power struggle with Al Qaida over the control of jihad in Syria and possibly even over the future of Al Qaida itself. Efforts to unify the Syrian opposition, even those limited to jihadist groups, failed also because of the leadership of Al Nusra kept trying to co-opt other opposition groups, rather than forming alliances with them.

Theorizing Organizational Hubris and Imagination Failures: Reflections on the Twentieth Anniversary

This article addresses this year’s AOM theme, “20/20: Broadening our Sight”, by making the invisible ‘visible’ in a study of the causes of September 11th, 2001 (9/11). The aim is to advance the psychodynamic understanding of imagination failures by analyzing the findings of the US government’s public inquiry in The 9/11 Report. In this study, I distinguish between narcissistic and hubristic organizations, theorizing that two forms of organizational hubris—America’s ‘hubris of empire-building’ and Al Qaeda’s ‘hubris-nemesis complex’— amalgamated in a uniquely generative manner leading to 9/11. Previous studies of public inquiries demonstrate that inquiry reports are monological story-telling performances used to create sense-making narratives that function hegemonically to impose a simplified version of reality to assign blame, depoliticize events, and facilitate closure after shocking events. In contrast, findings here suggest that by constructing a critical narrative, The 9/11 Report may serve as a new type of public inquiry report that invites analysis of the complex factors that underpin crisis. The article concludes by identifying fruitful areas of future research and ways to theorize further about the psychodynamics of organizational hubris and the factors that contribute to imagination failures.

The Afghan “Fog of War”

Abstract The terrorist attacks of 9/11 took the USA and NATO by surprise, as they are still under the euphoric effect of celebrating the fall of the Eastern European ideological walls and the collapse of the communist bloc. The immediate response of the military operations led to the neutralization of the Taliban forces or more precisely to their removed from political power and denial the influence of Al Qaeda. The purely military approach dominated the initial kinetic clashes and conquered the physical terrain but failed to dominate the society marked by perennial conflicts, widespread corruption, poverty and multiple ethnic and tribal fragmentations. The Afghan insurgency that formed seems to have managed to slow down and finally block the reconstruction and development effort made by the strong NATO-centred coalitions. The article examines the causes of the Afghan “fog of war” that led to this great failure and makes recommendations that must be taken into account in future military conflicts.

Analyzing predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors of militancy through declassified interrogation summaries: A case study.

Researchers and policymakers have supported a public health approach to countering violent extremism throughout the War on Terror. However, barriers to obtaining primary data include concerns from minority groups about stigmatization, the ethics of harming research subjects by exposing them to violent content, and restrictions on researchers from institutions and governments. Textual analyses of declassified documents from government agencies may overcome these barriers. This article contributes a method for analyzing the predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors of terrorism through open source texts. This method is applied to FBI interrogation summaries of Al Qaeda terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted an attack aboard an airplane in 2009. This analysis shows that consuming militant content online led him to narrow his social relationships offline to extremists and foster identifications with subjugated Muslims around the world. After deciding to wage militancy, loyalty to Al Qaeda members, swearing allegiance to and obeying group leaders, and interpreting religious texts militantly perpetuated violent activities. Such work can advance empirical work on militant behavior to develop interventions.

Unholy Alliances and their Threat: The Convergence of Terrorism, Organized Crime and Corruption

AbstractSince the tragedy of September 11, 2001 (9/11) there have been a growing awareness and recognition of the expanding threat presented by the transmutation and convergence of international organized crime and terrorist groups. There is a semantic debate on whether these organizations are “converging” or “transforming.” Regardless, this worrisome development is complicated and progressively difficult to combat and calls for law enforcement, intelligence and military interventions. While the United States and other countries have been dealing with the post-9/11 world of persistent problems like Iraq, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), Syria, and more, the links between organized crime and terrorism could prolong these challenges and generate further disruptions and menace to global security and development. There are strong operational needs and requirements that bring organized crime and terrorists together for collaboration and even seamless transitions within the same general operation. However, there are substantial hurdles that make a total teamwork between the two groups not so easily achievable. For example, organized crime normally avoids the publicity and the indiscriminate killings often used by terrorists. However, it is clear that the merging of international organized crime and terrorist groups is growing and presents unique challenges and opportunities. This paper examines this ongoing transmutation, convergence and cooperation between transnational organized crime and terrorism, and offers examples and recommendations on how to prevent it and defeat it.

From Pawn to Knights: The Changing Role of Women’s Agency in Terrorism?

As terrorist groups became more technologically advanced with their media campaigns, the global audience began to see pictures of women in black burkas pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and posing with guns. Although there is a backlash against such change that we see reflected in the ideologies of violent extremism; the shifts in gender relations within these groups are significant to examine. Further, we face questions about the repatriation of ISIS women and children to their countries of origin – notably questions of agency and culpability within the mainstream media. This paper asks: to what extent have women’s roles changed within and across terrorist groups? Is there a move toward women’s empowerment, or is it a facade? Analyzing the three cases of Al-Qaeda (AQ), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) does their advent represent a significant shift? The emergence of ISIS and Boko Haram’s explicitly gendered strategies of violence and recruitment within the highly patriarchal and misogynistic Salafi-jihadist culture, and PKK’s postconflict gender-equal political advances demonstrates that addressing women’s agency through a gendered analysis outside of the masculine domain is imperative. Scholars should challenge the idea that women have limited roles.

نشأة وتطور الجماعات الجهادية في أفغانستان : حرکة طالبان وتنظيم القاعدة وتنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام نموذجاً The Appearance and Evolution of the Jihadist Groups: Taliban, AL Qaeda and Islamist state

يتناول البحث الظروف التي مهدت لظهور الجماعات الجهادية في أفغانستان من خلال تحليل المجتمع الأفغاني ، حيث يتسم بکثرة الإنقسامات العرقية و الأثنية بسبب التنوع الأثني : الباشتون و الطاجيک و الحزارا و الأوزبک و الترکمان و الأيمک ، و نشأه الجماعات الجهادية من خلال الترکيز على کل من : الفکر - الهيکل التنظيمي والقيادات – الهدف – مراحل التطور ، و ذلک بالتطبيق على حرکة طالبان وتنظيم القاعدة و تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في العراق و الشام ، و أسباب ظهور هذه الجماعات سواء کانت داخلية أو خارجية إلي جانب توضيح أوجه التشابه و الإختلاف بين الجماعات الجهادية المذکورة ، و الجانب الصراعي في علاقتهم ببعضهم البعض. This research interests in the conditions that facilitates the appearance of the jihadist groups through analyzing the Afghan Society that is characterized by ethnic divisions because of Ethnic diversity : Pashtun , Tajik , Aymak, Hezara, Turkman , besides the Afghan Political System, explaining it's Thought, Leadership, Organizational Structure and Aims Applies to Taliban, AL Qaeda and the Islamic state, in addition to studying problems related to jihadist groups .Besides Clarifying similarities, differences and Conflict between these jihadist groups.

The education of Muslim women in Daesh’s and Al Qaeda’s online magazines

ABSTRACT Violent radicalisation is one of the most serious problems jeopardising the peaceful coexistence of many modern societies. In recent years, different research has been performed on the processes of violent radicalisation linked to terrorism and instigated by men. Following the recent increase in the number of women joining Daesh or Al Qaeda, this study examines the persuasive messages that both convey to Muslim women through their official online magazines. Using Atlas.ti software, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on all the articles aimed specifically at women published in these magazines. These groups see women as the cornerstone of the Muslim community, assigning them a key role in its survival and highlighting their contribution to the reproduction and education of future generations. Nonetheless, it has been possible to detect differences and contradictions in the role that these groups give women in violent jihad. The results obtained here contradict the general assertion that women are prompted to join these groups by promises of romance, pointing instead to different factors making them more vulnerable to influence. In conclusion, real decolonisation and educational preventive measures on which a consensus has been reached with the Muslim community are recommended.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM AND RADICALISATION OF MUSLIMS IN MALAYSIA:

This study discusses the reasons behind the rise of religious extremism in Malaysia within the framework of international politics and the world order by highlighting the ties of Malay Muslims with the Mujahidin, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) over the last four decades. For that purpose, a qualitative analytical approach is used, referencing secondary sources such as academic journal articles and scholarly books. In understanding the situation, online newspaper articles were also considered as secondary sources to extract the data to understand the destructive situation in Malaysia, which has gradually become a fertile ground for the sowing of radical ideas. The paper highlights that since the 1970s, religious extremism and radicalism have intensified due to the Cold War politics, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and, later, foreign invasions of Muslim nation-states, giving rise to many local religious extremist groups with their relations to international extremist groups. Analysis of the secondary sources reveals the existence of a radical understanding of Islam by a substantial portion of the population, thus suggesting that the authorities should pay attention to extremist influences on the moderate nature of social relations in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Malaysia. At the same time, the paper argues that this negative transformation cannot be explained by external factors alone, as the internal factors have played an important role in the radicalisation of Malay society. The paper concludes with several practical recommendations such as improvisation of religious education that emphasises on peaceful cohesion, and discontinuation of foreign intervention policies and overgeneralisations. These recommendations are to regulate the escalation of extremism and radical understanding of Islam in Malaysia, which considerably threatens national security and citizens’ wellbeing.
 
 Keywords: Al Qaeda, ISIS, Islamic radicalism in Malaysia, mujahidin, religious extremism.
 
 Cite as: Jaafar, M. I., & Akhmetova, E. (2020). Religious extremism and radicalisation of Muslims in Malaysia: The Malay ties with the Mujahidin, Al Qaeda and ISIS. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(1), 104-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss1pp104-123

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent: comparing the movement in India and Bangladesh

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to estimate the strength of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent since it was launched in 2014 by looking at the presence, narratives and the campaigns that the group has tried to engage in. Drawing on primary sources such as the group's documents and interviews with analysts, it argues that AQIS’ strategy in the two nations is threefold; first, it has plugged itself into the various local narratives and challenges that the Muslim communities in these two nations face. Second, AQIS has presented itself as a more reliable and stable option than the Islamic State. Third, it has employed the use of strategic patience to stay under the radar and expand its base of operations in these two nations. In concluding the paper, it assesses that while the group has not launched many major attacks in these two nations, it has fulfilled its objectives of staying relevant in South Asia and presenting itself as a strong competitor to the Islamic State.

KÜRESELLEŞMENİN EL KAİDE STRATEJİLERİNİN DÖNÜŞÜMÜNE OLAN ETKİSİ

The present study, which examines the organizational structure, ideology, strategy and financial resources as well as policies with regard to struggling with Al Qaeda, aims to investigate the profile of Al Qaeda terrorist organization and its strategies in the light of the current literature review. In this context, analyzing the profile of Al Qaeda terrorist organization, which acquired notable experiences from the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviets and used this experience in the global arena thus executing 9/11 terrorist attacks, is of utmost importance for the academics and practitioners who are engaged with the field of terrorism. Having scrutinized the profile of terrorist organization within the present study, it would be possible to see that Al Qaeda, which has retained global characteristic features during the course of the time, has a unique organizational structure, ideology and strategy as compared to other conventional terrorist organizations. Therefore, this study is academically unique in terms of offering new and global perspectives including theoretical explanations. Furthermore, the study contributed to the current literature through bringing up Al Qaeda’s ideologies, strategies and organizational structure which help decision takers and policy makers to frame and shape policies with regard to struggling with Al Qaeda. In this respect, the prevention of abusing religious affairs and values, the construction of open society where liberal thought and fundamental freedoms can blossom and lastly the enhancement of international cooperation activities are the key counterterrorism strategies, which need to be considered while dealing with Al Qaeda. In terms of methodology and research strategy of the present study, qualitative data and secondary quantitative data have been used and mainly qualitative research strategy has been followed. To do so, initially, literature review regarding the scope of the study has been conducted, subsequent to the archival research, the content analysis of the gathered data has been made. After conducting the analysis process, categories of ideologies and strategies to which Al Qaeda adheres have been illustrated and accordingly, basing on the cited categories, a significant step has been taken toward offering theoretical explanations aiming to shape and frame policies with regard to countering Al Qaeda.

A New Direction for U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa

A New Direction for U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa Zachariah Mampilly (bio) and Jason Stearns (bio) President Trump's approach to Africa rightly elicits outrage. His conception of the continent ranges from disinterest—he has only mentioned it three times out of around 20,000 tweets—to outright contempt, such as when he referred to African nations as "shithole countries." For eighteen months, the office of the assistant secretary of state for African affairs was empty or occupied by a temporary official. Almost two years into his administration, there was no ambassador deployed to twenty of Africa's fifty-four countries. Trump has only met with two heads of state from sub-Saharan Africa in the White House. He has proposed large budget cuts for humanitarian funding—including for the flagship President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and UN peacekeeping operations—although these attempts were mostly foiled by bipartisan efforts in Congress. In January, he extended his travel ban to four additional African countries, including Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation and its largest economy, affecting nearly a quarter of the 1.3 billion people on the continent. Appearances, however, are deceptive. While Trump's Africa policy may seem to be a departure, its broad contours have changed little from recent administrations. Since the end of the Cold War, both Republican and Democratic administrations have embraced a mixture of military intervention, free trade, and humanitarian aid on the continent. As a result, Washington has often ended up backing authoritarian regimes, all the while halfheartedly projecting democratic values. Meanwhile, the continent is undergoing transformative changes. Much like Latin America during the 2000s, many African countries once drawn into the U.S. orbit are drifting out of it. With COVID-19 threatening to destabilize African economies and political systems, now is the time for a progressive reset in relations with the continent: a new foreign policy, centered on economic justice and the democratic aspirations of African youth. With the presidential election looming and Joe Biden, the Democratic Party nominee, expected to place Obama-era stalwarts such as Susan Rice and Samantha Power in top foreign policy positions if he wins [End Page 107] Click for larger view View full resolution A Nigerien soldier wearing a U.S. military uniform waits during a training exercise in 2004 in Samara, Niger. (Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images) [End Page 108] in November, progressives must push for a new direction for U.S.–Africa relations or risk entrenching the problematic policies of the past. Beneath the Turmoil, Continuity U.S. foreign policy in Africa has its roots in the Cold War, when it was dominated by fears of communist encroachment. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the continent was viewed as peripheral to core U.S. interests. As a 1995 Defense Department assessment summarized, "Ultimately we see very little traditional strategic interest in Africa." The same dismissive attitude held in the economic sphere. By 2017, exports to the continent stood at just above 1 percent of the U.S. total and direct investment by U.S. companies was even lower. Disengagement was also spurred by missteps and the thorny realities of local politics. In 1993, the deployment of Army Rangers to Somalia in support of a UN peacekeeping intervention ended when eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed and some of their mutilated bodies were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. This influenced Bill Clinton's refusal to back a more robust UN engagement to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. His administration instead enthusiastically supported a new generation of rebels-turned-rulers in Rwanda, Uganda, and Ethiopia, only to see them entrench themselves as authoritarian leaders. This trend of opportunistically backing authoritarian regimes solidified after 9/11, when African countries came to be key, albeit secondary, battlegrounds in the global War on Terror. During the 2000s, several militant groups emerged on the continent that were eventually designated as errorist organizations by the Bush and Obama administrations, including the predecessors of al Shabaab in Somalia and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the Sahel. In 2002, to combat this perceived threat, the United States set up the Combined Joint Task Force...

Ilyas Kashmiri through the Prism of HuJI, HuA, HuM, JeM, Brigade 313 and al Qaeda

Ilyas Kashmiri through the Prism of HuJI, HuA, HuM, JeM, Brigade 313 and al Qaeda

AFRICOM against AL Qaeda in the countries of Islamic Maghreb

AFRICOM against AL Qaeda in the countries of Islamic Maghreb

Populism and Worldwide Turbulence

This contribution consists in an attempt to make sense of one central aspect of the present worldwide turbulence, one which might well be called the contemporary, perfect, global storm. A pivotal problem that will be interrogated is the issue of the circumstances that have produced this phenomenon in most parts of the world, although it should be emphasized that the term populism is, more often than not, applied to the Western world rather than the East or, for the most part, the global South. However, this reservation does not amount to a severe caveat, since all the contemporary signs are that what is here called populism is sweeping across the entire world as a whole, even though it is not necessarily given this name in non-Western regions. To this generalization it should be added that there are, rather obviously, parallels to what has become known as populism in the West. Examples of this are anarchism in nineteenth century Russia and the movement known as the Long March under the leadership of Mao Zedong in the years 1934 and 1935 particularly, as well as al Qaeda and its various offshoots.