Global War On Terror The Nigerian Dimension

This book investigates the devastating impacts of the Boko Haram terrorist campaign in Nigeria, reflecting on the group’s historical context, organizational dynamics, and emerging trajectories. Since its inception in 2002, Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign has become one of the major threats to security and human development in West Africa, killing tens of thousands of people, and displacing many more. This book reflects on the origins and development of Boko Haram, contextualizing it in the global trend of militant Islamist movements. It delves into the tactics of the organization, their deployment of sexual and gender- based violence against women and human rights abuses in the war against them. The war against Boko Haram has seen engagement from the international community, national and regional military operations, and also a range of civilian- led movements. This book reflects on the roles of these different actors, and the emerging trajectories that need to be considered in order to eradicate Boko Haram. Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives, this book will be of interest to researchers across the fi elds of sociology, political science, African studies, and peace and conflict studies.

The primary objective of this book is to understand the nature of the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram’s goal of an Islamic Caliphate, starting in the Borno State in the North East that will eventually cover the areas of the former Kanem-Borno Empire, is a rejection of the modern state system forced on it by the West. The central theme of this volume examines the relationship between the failure of the state-building project in Nigeria and the outbreak and nature of insurgency. At the heart of the Boko Haram phenomenon is a country racked with cleavages, making it hard for Nigeria to cohere as a modern state. Part I introduces this theme and places the Boko Haram insurgency in a historical context. There are, however, multiple cleavages in Nigeria ̶ ethnic, regional, cultural, and religious ̶ and Part II examines the different state-society dynamics fuelling the conflict. Political grievances are common to every society; however, what gives Boko Haram the space to express such grievances through violence? Importantly, this volume demonstrates that the insurgency is, in fact, a reflection of the hollowness within Nigeria’s overall security. Part III looks at the responses to Boko Haram by Nigeria, neighbouring states, and external actors. For Western actors, Boko Haram is seen as part of the "global war on terror" and the fact that it has pledged allegiance to ISIS encourages this framing. However, as the chapters here discuss, this is an over-simplification of Boko Haram and the West needs to address the multiple dimension of Boko Haram. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, insurgencies, African politics, war and conflict studies, and IR in general.

Since the terrorist attacks on the American homeland on September 11, 2001, fighting the menace has become the frontier issue on the U.S.’ national security agenda. In the case of the African Continent, the United States has, and continues to accord major attention to the West African sub-region. This book : Evaluates where we can place West Africa within the broader crucible of the U.S. war on terrorism Establishes the key elements of the U.S.’ counter-terrorism policy in West Africa? Examines the U.S. counter-terrorism strategies in West Africa, and evaluates if they are being pursued both at the bilateral and multilateral levels in the region Interrogates the relationship between stability in the sub-region and the waging of the U.S.’ war on terrorism. Specifically, the book examines the crises of underdevelopment—cultural, economic, environmental, political, security and social—in the sub-region, especially their impact on shaping the conditions that provide the taproots of terrorism. Clearly, addressing these multidimensional crises of underdevelopment is pivotal to the success of the U.S. war on terrorism in the sub-region. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of terrorism, homeland security, African Studies, conflict management, and political violence.

A comprehensive analysis of the rise of Boko Haram from a small religious cult to a major terrorist group, placing them within the context of Nigerian politics and the international War on Terror. In 2009, Nigerian security forces stormed a religious cult by the name of Boko Haram, killing its leader and thousands of followers. Six years later, Boko Haram is an enemy to reckon with, boasting 15,000 members and taking credit for 20,000 deaths. This book looks at the successful rise of this terrorist group, probing the religious and political environment that enabled a relatively small cult to threaten a nation. The study draws on the author's fieldwork in Nigeria, where she had access to officials, activists, psychologists, and military personnel. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it offers a micro-to-macro investigation of the Boko Haram as a phenomenon. It also provides readers with an understanding of the regional dynamics that obstructed political and military cooperation among neighboring countries, enabling Boko Haram's success. This book traces the group's religious origins in the early 2000s and documents its violent political claims in Nigeria and across the border in Northern Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Finally, it examines the impact of the international War on Terror and presents a comparative study of other contemporary terrorism movements and their networks.

This book provides the first sustained critical engagement with the legacy of the 9/11 attacks twenty years on. Featuring a wide range of established and emerging voices in critical terrorism studies, the book explores the deeply political character of remembering and forgetting, and the racialised, gendered and other contexts within which this takes place. A lively and provocative conversation between feminist, postcolonial, post-structural, literary and critical perspectives, 9/11 Twenty Years On asks what ‘the day that changed the world’ means for critical terrorism studies today, and how we might choose to mark those events in the future. It will be essential reading for upper-level students, researchers and academics in the fields of International Relations, Security Studies and Political Science in general, as well as anyone interested in critical approaches to terrorism, political violence, and memory. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Critical Studies on Terrorism.

This book presents critical perspectives on the impacts of globalization in Africa with particular reference to the crisis of development and governance, the crisis of peace and security, and the environmental crisis. It explores both global and local factors that exacerbate these crises, and seeks solutions to these challenges. With a strong slant on African experience and perspectives, the book reveals that globalization has presented Africa with both challenges and opportunities for governance and existence in an increasingly inter-connected planet.