Tribes And Global Jihadism

Across the Muslim world, from Iraq and Yemen, to Egypt and the Sahel, new alliances have been forged between the latest wave of violent Islamist groups ---- -including Islamic State and Boko Haram ---- -and local tribes. But can one now speak of a direct link between tribalism and jihadism, and how analytically useful might it be? Tribes are traditionally thought to resist all encroachments upon their sovereignty, whether by the state or other local actors, from below; yet by joining global organizations such as Islamic State, are they not rejecting the idea of the state from above? This triangular relationship is key to understanding instances of mass 'radicalization', when entire communities forge alliances with jihadi groups, for reasons of self-interest, self-preservation or religious fervor. If Algeria's FIS or Turkey's AKP once represented the 'Islamization of nationalism', have we now entered a new era, the 'tribalization of globalization'?

Across the Muslim world, from Iraq and Yemen, to Egypt and the Sahel, new alliances have been forged between the latest wave of violent Islamist groups ---- -including Islamic State and Boko Haram ---- -and local tribes. But can one now speak of a direct link between tribalism and jihadism, and how analytically useful might it be? Tribes are traditionally thought to resist all encroachments upon their sovereignty, whether by the state or other local actors, from below; yet by joining global organizations such as Islamic State, are they not rejecting the idea of the state from above? This triangular relationship is key to understanding instances of mass 'radicalization', when entire communities forge alliances with jihadi groups, for reasons of self-interest, self-preservation or religious fervor. If Algeria's FIS or Turkey's AKP once represented the 'Islamization of nationalism', have we now entered a new era, the 'tribalization of globalization'?

"Despite His Alleged Capture In Pakistan In Late 2005, Abu Mus’Abal-Suri, A Syrian Originally Known As Mustafa Sethmarian Nasar, Remains A Potent Political And Ideological Figure. Al-Suri Trained A Generation Of Young Jihadis At Al-Qaida’S Afghan Camps And Helped Establish The Organisation’S European Networks. Having Gained Extensive Military Experience Fighting In The Syrian Islamist Insurgency Of The Early 1980S, He Helped To Shape Al-Qaida’S Global Strategy In A Series Of Writings, Including His Influential Global Islamic Resistance Call. In This 1,600 Page Book, Al-Suri Outlines A Broad Strategy For Al-Qaida’S Younger Generation To Follow And Describes Practical Ways To Implement The Theories And Tactics Of Jihadi Guerilla Warfare. In Architect Of Global Jihad, Brynjar Lia Translates Two Key Concepts From Al-Suri’S Global Islamic Resistance Call And Exposes His Methods For Maximizing The Political Impact Of Jihadi Violence And Building Successful, Autonomous Cells For ‘Individualised Terrorism’. Al-Suri’S Words Have Inspired Many Of Today’S Militants, Making Lia’S Detailed Portrait Required Reading For Students And Specialists Of Islamist Movements And The Study Of Contemporary Forms Of Terrorism."

This timely 2 volume edited collection looks at the extent and nature of global jihad, focusing on the often-exoticised hinterlands of jihad beyond the traditionally viewed Middle Eastern 'centre'. As ISIS loses its footing in Syria and Iraq and al-Qaeda regroups this comprehensive account will be a key work in the on-going battle to better understand the dynamics of the jihads global reality. Critically examining the global reach of the jihad in these peripheries has the potential to tell us much about patterns of both local mobilisation, and local rejection of a grander centrally themed and administered jihad. Has the periphery been receptive to an exported jihad from the centre or does the local rooted cosmopolitanism of the jihad in the periphery suggest a more complex glocal relationship? These questions and challenges are more pertinent than ever as the likes of ISIS and many commentators, attempt to globally rebrand the jihad and as the centre reasserts its claims to the exotic periphery. Edited by Tom Smith (Portsmouth), Kirsten E. Schulze (LSE) and Hussein Solomon (UFS) the two volumes critically examine the various claims of connections between jihadist terrorism in the 'periphery', remote Islamist insurgencies of the 'periphery' and the global jihad. Each volume draws on experts in each of the geographies in question. The global nature of the jihad is too often taken for granted; yet the extent of the glocal connections deserve focused investigation. Without such inquiry we risk a reductive understanding of the global jihad, further fostering Orientalist and Eurocentric attitudes towards local conflicts and remote violence in the periphery. This book will therefore draw attention to those who overlook and undermine the distinct and rich particularities of the often-contradictory and cosmopolitan global jihad. In many of the peripheries, particularly those with intensive large-scale insurgencies, there is extensive international military alliance. The Bush doctrine to 'fight them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here' certainly looks to be alive and well in places like Somalia, the Philippines and Niger amongst many others. Crucially we must ask - is such reasoning sound – is the threat global and if so in what way? Furthermore - is action in the peripheries under the guise of combating the global jihad overlooking the local issues and threatening to make a wider threat where it was otherwise contained? Diagnosing nations or regions as 'breeding grounds' or 'sanctuaries' of global jihad carries the spectre of having to chose sides in a battle of civilisations, which looms over a number of developing nations reliant on good western relations.

The 1998 attaThe 1998 attacks against US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam attest to al-Qaeda's durable presence in Africa, yet Islamist-inspired radical organisations in the continent have gained much attention of late, the result of their campaigns of insurgent and terrorist violence directed against the state in Algeria, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya. These groups include Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Harakat Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, and Ansar Dine. This book explains why the Idea of Jihad is alive and well in sub-Saharan Africa, even after more than thirty years of Western and global efforts to curtail it, and how most important organisations are formed by the interaction between the often under-estimated local and global dynamics. Stig Jarle Hansen has been researching African radical violent Islamism for more than fifteen years and is well placed to explain how and why such groups emerged, whether they manifest any specific traits compared with other violent Islamists, and what is likely to be their impact beyond the African continent. He also discusses the response of African and Western governments to this phenomenon cks against US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam attest to al-Qaeda's durable presence in Africa, yet Islamist-inspired radical organizations in the continent have gained much attention of late, the result of their campaigns of insurgent and terrorist violence directed against the state in Algeria, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali and Kenya. These groups include Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Harakat Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Ansar Dine. Evidence has emerged to suggest that beyond shared political objectives they are also collaborating in terms of finance, propaganda, arms transfers and training, while Western governments believe some of them maintain links with Al-Qaeda "central." Stig Jarle Hansen has been researching African radical violent Islamism for more than ten years and is well placed to explain how and why such groups emerged, whether they manifest any specific traits compared with other violent Islamists, and what is likely to be their impact beyond the African continent. He also discusses the response of African and Western governments to this phenomenon.

Regime change in Libya (2011) and Iraq (2003) catapulted a host of sub-state actors to the fore, including tribes, which have emerged as influential political, security and social actors. But despite this increased role and visibility, tribes remain poorly understood. Often mistakenly associated with the 'periphery' or with 'pre-national' or 'pre-modern' forms of political organisation, they are routinely portrayed as the antithesis of the state. Yet tribes--the Middle East's oldest, most enduring and most controversial social entities--have proved able to adapt and evolve, entering into mutually beneficial relationships with various regimes. Based on interviews with tribal sheikhs, tribal representatives and other stakeholders, Alison Pargeter traces the role of the tribe in Libya and Iraq from the revolutionary nationalist period into the fraught transitions that followed. She reveals how tribes have succeeded in developing a presence in national and local political structures; how they have engaged and bargained with major powerbrokers; and how they have become important security providers in their own right. Contrary to modernist approaches seeking to write the obituary of the tribe, this book shows how tribes have not only survived in Libya and Iraq, but remain a key component of the state in both countries.

Dozens of international and local organizations, up to one hundred thousand individuals, and millions of supporters are part of the phenomenon of global jihad. This reference work names and differentiates these organizations, explaining their ideology, infrastructure, operational capabilities, and activities. It also analyzes their mutual and multi-lateral relations inside and outside the "jihadi framework.”

Of the intellectual underpinnings of the more radical elements of contemporary Islam.