Global Jihad Research Articles

Small War as Global War: Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s Campaign in German East Africa, 1914-1918

This article discusses Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who commanded the Schutztruppe for German East Africa between 1914 and 1918, as a strategic thinker who clearly perceived the rupture that the First World War implied for colonial governance and the use of military violence. While local resistance to colonisation had been the predominant security concern before 1914, the globalisation of the First World War meant that many colonies became recruiting grounds for loyalist soldiers as well as battlefields in the clash of arms between colonial powers. Conversely, the possibility of anti-colonial rebellions presented a vulnerability for colonial powers that could have a global impact. Based on new archival material, this article shows how Lettow-Vorbeck recognised that small war had the potential to tip the scales in a global war and linked his efforts in German East Africa to the Imperial German strategic efforts to instigate global jihad against Entente colonial powers.

Global Jihad and Local Sentiment: The Impact of the Hamas-Israel Conflict on Radicalization in Indonesia

The prolonged conflict between Hamas and Israel has significant impacts on the social and political dynamics in various countries, including Indonesia. This study aims to analyze how this conflict affects radicalization and the development of terrorism ideology in Indonesia. The methodology employed is a qualitative approach based on narrative analysis through document studies and secondary data. This research applies the Relative Deprivation Theory to explain the dissatisfaction felt by Indonesian Muslims regarding the conditions in Palestine, and the Framing Theory to understand how the conflict narrative is framed by radical groups. The findings indicate that the narrative of Palestinian suffering and the legitimacy of jihad are used by extremist groups to recruit new members and garner support. Additionally, this phenomenon contributes to an increase in anti-Israel sentiment among Indonesian society. The findings reveal the complex relationship between international conflicts and local radicalization, which calls for more serious attention from the government in addressing potential terrorism threats arising from these sentiments.

When Transnationalism is not Global: Dynamics of Armed Transnational Shi‘a Islamist Groups

Studies of armed Islamism have had a strong interest in “transnational jihadism”, “global jihad”, al-Qaeda and—more recently—Islamic State. In discussions, these three features—transnationalism, global jihad, and al-Qaeda/Islamic State—are highly entangled. This article challenges the (implicit) assumption that armed transnational Islamism is necessarily global, Sunni and mainly concerns al-Qaeda or Islamic State. First, it shows how scholarship on armed transnational Islamism, although sophisticated and multifaceted, is narrow in the sense of typically conflating “transnational” with “global” and ignoring armed transnational Shi‘a Islamists operating regionally. Second, the article demonstrates how bringing the “other Islamists” (back) in changes the broader debate about armed transnational Islamism in three important ways. It fundamentally changes the narrative of the origins, evolutions and spread of armed transnational Islamism, and which key warscapes and events shaped it (when and where). It adds important, hitherto largely overlooked causal mechanisms (how and why). And it introduces a number of conceptual innovations and nuances, which challenge existing typologies (what). Drawing on the warscapes literature, the article shows the importance of going beyond methodological nationalism to trace transnational flows and networks, extending the focus temporally to before and after conflicts formally end, and considering how different warscapes spill over into each other. It contributes to the warscapes literature by emphasizing the importance of regional “-scapes” and transnational organizations in shaping warscapes.

Exploring the Shifting Understanding of Jihad Among Former Terrorists in their Journey Towards Disengagement: Transforming the Sword

Purpose: This article explores the transformation of former terrorists' understanding of jihad verses to promote non-violence and disengagement. Method: The research uses a qualitative, narrative-phenomenological approach to analyze this shift. Data collection techniques with interviews (in deph interview), observation, and documentation. The depth of the data was obtained by searching for additional informants with snowball sampling techniques.Conventional content analysis techniques for open coding in this study. Open coding is obtained from the narration of informants. Result: The findings indicate a change in perception among former terrorists, but it does not completely eliminate their desire for holy war. Instead, they now view global jihad as defensive rather than offensive, and the law of jihad has shifted from an individual to a collective obligation. Former terrorists have replaced acts of terror with peaceful, humanistic actions. This transformation occurs during the process of indoctrination and later reflection on their perceived jihad actions. The informants' reflections are influenced by holistic interpretations of jihad verses, considering the impact of terror acts and social interactions with outgroups, family, and humanity. Ultimately, the research recommends a contextual examination of jihad verses to form the basis of deradicalization programs. Providing ongoing support to former terrorists during their reflection is crucial. Conclusion: Based on previous discussions, it can be concluded that a shift in understanding the meaning of jihadi verses occurred in all informants in this study. The shift in understanding of global jihad to defensive jihad; the law of jihad from fard 'ain (individual obligation) to the law of fard kifayah (collective obligation); jihad with acts of terror to jihad with peaceful and humanist action. This shift in understanding occurs in two stages, namely when the process of indoctrination of terror and when they reflect on actions that have been believed to be jihad.

Indonesian Jihadi Training Camps: Home and Away

This article looks at Indonesian training in foreign camps in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Syria as well as domestic training camps and opportunities in Ambon, Poso, Aceh, and Java. It examines the roles that these camps played not only in building military capacity but also with respect to ensuring organizational continuity, building networks, and fulfilling the obligation of jihad. This article argues that jihadi military training both in Indonesia and abroad has not only served to acquire the necessary skills to fight repressive regimes but also to acquire the capacity to defend the Islamic state the jihadis were seeking to establish. It further argues that foreign training camps provided opportunities for intensive training with heavy weapons and the experience of being part of a global jihad while domestic training camps served caderization, the defense of Muslims in conflict areas, and as preparation for foreign training camps. And finally, this article demonstrates that both domestic and foreign training camps provided opportunities for network-building, leading to new training possibilities.

Explaining the Impact of Extremist Groups in the UK After 9/11

The current study aimed to identify definitions of extremism, its forms, and the reasons for its emergence in societies. In addition to the roots of extremism in the three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This research studies the role and effects of the 9/11 attacks on the United States as a turning point in modern history and a link between extremism, violence, and global jihad. Al Qaeda as a paradigm. This study uses the descriptive narrative method to describe the characteristics and origins of Islamic extremism and study the attributes of far-right British extremist groups in the UK as a study case. The narrative approach is selected because it is often used to understand individuals and groups better and describe a phenomenon. This study will prove the extent to which extremism directly affects societies and individuals. It also will reveal that extremism often flourishes in environments characterized by social and economic disparities, political instability, ideological polarization, and undemocratic governments. Moreover, the role played by electronic platforms and social networking sites, in addition to mosques and religious sermons, works to facilitate the spread of extremism. Extremist ideologies emerge as a worrying contemporary challenge. The thesis emphasizes the importance of precise and context-specific strategies to combat extremism, emphasizing the need for collaboration between governments, civil society, and technology providers. In conclusion, this research contributes to the academic understanding of extremism, provides a general knowledge of its motivations, and gives recommendations to face it. By comprehensively addressing the root causes and manifestations of extremism, it advocates for holistic approaches that foster inclusivity, education, and social cohesion as essential components in mitigating the impact of extremist ideologies on global society.

Paratexts as gatekeepers in online global jihadist translation – The narrative of a blog-based Arabic translation of Dabiq

Translation has played a pivotal role in disseminating global jihadist propaganda online from the declaration of global jihad in the late 1990s to its recent manifestation in 2014 with the emergence of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This paper contends that paratextual frames have a significant role in mediating the ideologically charged messages of global jihadist to diverse communities and when contexts change. The article investigates the gatekeeping function of paratexts within a blog-based Arabic translation of ISIS’s English magazine Dabiq (AZIZ8178 2016a). Drawing upon narrativity (Somers & Gibson 1993; Bruner 1991; Baker 2006a), the translations published in a blog, AZIZ8178, are scrutinized to explore the paratextual interventions that frame translated narratives. The results pinpoint a deliberate selection of articles for translation that aligns with the shifting circumstances faced by ISIS on the ground. Moreover, AZIZ8178’s Arabic version of Dabiq is shown to construct a narrative centered on identity, emphasizing internal conflicts and divisions within contemporary Arab communities. It is posited that AZIZ8178’s paratexts familiarize ISIS radical doctrines within the socio-political fabric, potentially inciting fanaticism among the targeted Arabic-speaking audience. The visibility and autonomy of the translator become evident in the paratextual elements of signatures and footnotes, eliciting his jihadist stance.

JAHILIYYAH RHETORIC AS A DIVINE LEGITIMACY FOR VIOLENCE: A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SAYYID QUTB AND THE CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIST ORTHODOXY ON AL-QAEDA, THE TALIBAN, AND THE ISLAMIC STATE

The Islamic conception of Jahiliyyah brings together the three most debated Muslim militant organizations of our times, namely Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban in terms of their justification for violence. It is discussed here that despite significant differences in their political agendas, social and cultural motives as well as religious denominational affiliations, the three organizations are hegemonic in their resort to the notion of Jahiliyyah while opposing the non-Shari’ah based political rule. They converge on the idea that there is an imperative to install a system based on Shari’ah and that any actors opposed to this can be treated as enemies, deviants, and infidels, hence, worthy of violent aggression. It is demonstrated here that this particular connotation of Jahiliyyah was essentially espoused in the works of Sayyid Qutb, one of the most influential twentieth century proponents of Islamism and global Jihad. Although developed primarily to denounce Western imperialists in a postcolonial context, one may see Jahiliyyah as a contemporary Islamic rhetoric for providing the three organizations in question, valid pretexts to wage armed insurgencies against whoever they view as hostile political forces. This overall narrative, as this study indicates, relates to the broader contemporary Islamist discourse on the legitimacy of political violence in the name of religion.

Motivasi dan Harapan Kembali Para Foreign Terrorist Fighter dari Suriah ke Indonesia

This research aims to explore the motivations and expectations of Indonesian Foreign Terrorist Fighters to return to their home countries. The development of this research uses a qualitative approach through interviews with resource persons and literature studies from related literature. Furthermore, the data obtained was analyzed using the Miles and Huberman analysis technique. The results of this study show that there are four factors of encouragement or motivation and three hopes of returning from the Foreign Terrorist Fighter, including continuing jihad, regret, disappointment, and the desire to survive. While the return expectations of the Foreign Terrorist Fighter, namely global jihad, normal life, and decent life.

“Хорасанский проект” ИГИЛ в Афганистане: новые вызовы и угрозы

Attempts to penetrate and consolidate in new territories made by supporters of the terrorist organization “Islamic State”* led to the creation of a “branch” of this international extremist network, acting under the banner of “global jihad”, in Afghanistan. The proclamation of the so-called “Khorasan province” was engendered by the confrontation of this militant group not only with the Western coalition, led by the US and the pro-American Afghan government that existed until August 15, 2021, but also with the Islamist Taliban movement. Moreover, the confrontation between IS-Khorasan Province (ISKP) and the Taliban* continued even after the latter returned to power. The supporters of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” managed to regain their strength after the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Afghan soil and now pose a quite tangible threat, carrying out bloody terrorist acts against the Taliban, representatives of ethnic and confessional minorities, and even against foreign objects. The article analyzes the features of the emergence of the “Khorasan project” of ISIS*, as well as the reasons for the enmity of this group towards the Taliban. The author also examines the prospects for the destructive activities of ISKP and its impact on the security situation both in Afghanistan itself and in the neighboring countries. The author concludes that ISKP does not have any sufficient potential to overthrow the Taliban* regime and come to power in Afghanistan. However, the activities of the terrorist group pose a great danger not only to this country, but to the entire region. *the organization is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation

The Evolution of Transnational Jihad: Identities, Grievances, and Legitimacy Crisis in Arab States

ABSTRACT This study examines change in the transnationalism of jihad in the light of political processes in Arab states. Reviewing transnational Sunni jihadism from the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s until the demise of the Islamic caliphate in 2019 the article identifies the inception, maturation, and diffusion phases in the evolution of transnational jihad, and traces fluctuations from localism to internationalism and back. The study highlights the link between political dynamics at the state level and jihadist behavior at the transnational level, showing the importance of issues of identity, grievances, and legitimacy in Arab states for understanding global jihad.

REDEFINE THE CONCEPT OF LONE WOLF IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL JIHAD

The purpose of this article is to conceptualize or redefine the concept of "lone wolf” in the context of global jihad. This article uses a meta-analysis approach by proposing two literature review methods, namely an effort to track a number of literatures that are the basis for defining lone wolf acts of terrorism and tracking a number of literatures that discuss the phenomenon of global jihad. This article finds that there are no acts of global jihad terrorism that operate independently, technological developments have pushed the global jihad agenda by Islamic activism on a local scale through social media as an instrument of mobilization and communication without having to interact directly. Therefore, this article concludes that the concept of global jihad glocalization is more appropriately used to refer to acts of terrorism carried out independently by Islamic-based terrorism groups rather than using the term "lone wolf". For this reason, the glocalization of global jihad in the process of ideological doctrine or the process of becoming radicalized is no longer conventional but runs in virtual spaces of social media.

Redefining Global Jihad and Its Termination: The Subjugation of al-Qaeda by Its Former Franchise in Syria

The globalization of jihad has proceeded in several stages from the mobilization against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s to Islamic State’s current campaign. The end of global jihad is nonetheless less understood, including the conditions in which jihadi groups could reject al-Qaeda (AQ) or Islamic State (IS). This article examines this question through the trajectory of a former AQ franchise, jabhat al-nusra (JaN), that became hay’at tahrir al-sham (HTS) in 2017. This article argues that global jihad is not absolute. Global jihad exists on a spectrum of four inter-connected dimensions that can be disaggregated. In Syria, JaN was only partially globalist when it emerged. JaN’s rejection of IS and AQ resulted from its opposition to their strategic objectives against the backdrop of the evolution of the Syrian conflict, which eroded JaN’s globalism and made it particularly costly. This article is based on extensive field research and interviews with HTS’s leadership in Idlib and other insurgents that have interacted with the group over the years.

Russia’s Most Volatile Region: Contemporary Extremist Threats to Global Security in the North Caucasus

Abstract At the beginning of the 21st century in the North Caucasus, the processes of depoliticizing ethnicity, which created an opportunity for a democratic restructuring of regional politics, gave way to the process of politicizing religion. A new stage of politicized regional identity, which began in the middle of the 2000s, in contrast to the beginning and the middle of the 1990s, is characterized by an active confessional factor in conflict processes in Russia’s most volatile region. Religious extremism as a protracted threat to regional and global security is becoming the main source of North Caucasian large-scale demodernization and ethnic mobilization. Current approaches to combating terrorism and extremism fuel existing social instability, inequality, disintegration, resentment and discontent with regional and federal authorities. As a result of many years of Russian counter-terrorism strategies (including the strategy of ‘collective responsibility’), the Caucasus Emirate has disintegrated and is almost non-functioning, however, this is also explained by an ideological expansion of ISIS in the region. Today, ISIS propaganda and reemerging Taliban find their audience between North Caucasian youth, agitating them to embark on the path of global jihad in Russia or abroad. Remaining unresolved and unsettled, protracted regional conflicts turn into religious extremism, giving rise to a new round of violence, the likelihood of overcoming which is significantly reduced. The long-term activities of ISIS and the growing role of the Taliban create favorable conditions for the further transformation of the North Caucasus into one of the influential geopolitical centers of contemporary jihadism.

“ХАЙЯТ ТАХРИР АШ-ШАМ” В СИРИЙСКОМ КОНФЛИКТЕ: МЕТАМОРФОЗЫ ТЕРРОРИСТИЧЕСКОЙ ГРУППИРОВКИ

One of the actors in the armed conflict in Syria is the extremist group “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS), which controls the territory of Idlib province in coordination with a number of other armed groups. Originally emerging as closely associated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network as “al-Nusra Front”, this organization has undergone a number of transformations in recent years as a result of both external and internal factors. Consistently loyal to jihadist principles, “al-Nusra Front” (and its incarnations, such as “Jabhat Fatah al-Sham” and “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham”) has demonstrated a certain flexibility throughout its history, which manifested in its attempts to adapt to changes and the wide use of soft power tools. The article analyzes the reasons for the rebranding of the group, which is trying to get rid of the odious image not only in the eyes of the Syrians, but also in the international arena. In particular, the author concludes that HTS is guided by the example of the Afghani Taliban movement in its attempts to obtain the status of a legitimate and negotiable participant in the conflict. There are signs that the strategy chosen by HTS is partly working with its message received in the Western expert community. It calls for a revision of the United States’ and its allies’ policies in relation to the HTS group, which has allegedly “severed ties with transnational jihadist networks and now seeks to enter the sphere of political participation in the future of Syria”. The article maintains that there are doubts about both the possibility of a conscious evolution of HTS into a more moderate movement, and the sincerity of their rejection of the “global jihad” agenda as declared by the group’s leaders. There is reason to believe that the group is not going to completely abandon terrorist activities outside the zone of the Syrian conflict.

Saudi Arabia. New challenges to the kingdom

The deployment of armed forces of the US and its allies on the territory of Saudi Arabia in 1990 and their war against Iraq in 1991 strengthened American dominance in the region and at the same time revealed previously concealed internal contradictions in Saudi society. A divide between the pro-monarchy and anti-Saudi movements became evident. It resulted in an ideological struggle between former allies - the Wahhabis and the Muslim Brothers - inside and outside the kingdom. The Islamist discourse of the Brothers and Sahwa movement (a sort of hybrid of Wahhabism and Muslim Brotherhood ideology) manifested itself in questioning the legitimacy of the Saudi rule and promoting a general anti-American attitude. Those contradictions gave birth to Al-Qaeda, which declared a global jihad against the West and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf. The September 11, 2001 attacks in New York gave Washington an excuse to invade Afghanistan and then, after a successful blitzkrieg there, encouraged the US to begin a war in Iraq under the fake pretext of Iraqi plans to develop all kinds of weapons of mass destruction. Consequences for the Saudi government included the strengthening of Sunni - Shiite contradictions inside the kingdom and in the region as well as an explosion of terrorism inside Saudi Arabia. After the establishment of the Shiite majority government in Iraq, the Sunni - Shiite contradictions have turned into a cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This situation aggravated the instability in the Middle East and precluded potential compromises.

THE CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT ISLAMIZATION OF CHECHNYA AS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHENOMENON

The article is aimed to reveal the influence of religious factor on the conflict and post-conflict societal and political spheres of the Chechen Republic. The study is based on the retrospective and discourse analysis of central and republican newspapers, interviews and speeches of political leaders, publications of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic, materials of opposition and hostile Internet resources. The study identifies several phases of the Islamization of Chechnya: 1) an attempt to create an Islamic state during the struggle for sovereignty; 2) the choice of Akhmad Kadyrov in favor of loyalty to the federal center and adherence to traditional Islam in defiance of the Wahhabi project; 3) Wahhabism, which had not taken root in Chechnya, went into the cyber underground, and its supporters joined the “Global Jihad”; 4) today’s penetration of traditional Islam into social (school, family, gender relations) and political (local and regional administration, international relations) life of the republic. The restoration of the role of Islam as an important social, moral and political regulator demonstrates the possibility of new gaps between secular society and the political system of modern Russia and Chechnya as a part of the country.

Unmasking Boko Haram: exploring global jihad in Nigeria; Insurgency and war in Nigeria: regional fracture and the fight against Boko Haram

Unmasking Boko Haram: exploring global jihad in Nigeria; Insurgency and war in Nigeria: regional fracture and the fight against Boko Haram

From letters to bombs. Transnational ties of West German right-wing extremists, 1972–1978

ABSTRACT Extremists cooperate internationally to ‘influence and succeed’ or ‘survive and thrive’ [Moghadam, A. (2017). Nexus of Global Jihad: Understanding cooperation among terrorist actors. Columbia University Press (p. 21)]. Yet, the question of how such cooperation materializes and develops has been understudied, especially for right-wing extremism in the post-war era. Therefore, this paper studies a phase of heightened transnational activity of West German right-wing extremists between 1972 and 1978. It zooms in on the Nationalsozialistische Kampfgruppe Großdeutschland and the Gruppe Otte, which were spatially and temporally connected by the American neo-Nazi Gary Lauck, who led the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – Auslandsorganisation. To study and qualify the impact of transnational engagement on the West German extreme right, the paper introduces a new analytical framework that integrates the historical transnational approach with insights from terrorism studies. Pairing known case studies to previously unused primary source material, the paper argues that the transnational connections between the three groups transformed from indirect to direct cooperation, while evolving across ideological, logistical, and operational domains, and resulted in political violence. It concludes that the extremist cooperation marked the professionalization and multi-lateralization of the West German extreme right in the 1970s.

HOSNI MUBARAK’S FOREIGN POLICY AND THE ISLAMIC FACTOR

The article examines the complicated domestic and foreign political situation inherited by H. Mubarak after the assassination of the former head of state A. Sadat by radical Islamists because of his foreign policy steps directly related to Islamic solidarity at the international level. H. Mubarak’s foreign policy was a continuation of the domestic one. He tried to attract supporters among the Islamists, at the same time widely using repression to weaken the Islamist opposition, and, at the same time, sought to pursue a policy of promoting state Islam, which was designed to show the Islamic character of the country and thus seize the initiative from the Islamist opposition. Having restored Egypt’s position in the Arab and Islamic world, in the last decade of his rule, H. Mubarak, as a result of unsuccessful steps towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, again faced criticism of his course. This was superimposed on the growth of opposition within the country, and the dilemma, which H. Mubarak tried to solve at the last stage of his rule, looked like a classic “paradox of democracy”, when the launching of democratization processes leads to the strengthening of Islamist forces. Another dimension on which the Islamic factor manifested itself in the foreign policy pursued under H. Mubarak was the fight against international terrorism. For Egypt, this problem worsened in the 1990s. Opposition to radical Islam reached a new level after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the declaration of a “global war on terrorism”, in which Egypt became a participant. During this period, al-Qaeda considered Egypt as one of the directions of the “global jihad”. The actions of the government of Egypt and the terrorist acts against this country revealed previously unknown groups that were somehow identified with Al-Qaeda and the “global jihad”.