Political Geography: Middle East / Topic: Violent Extremism

Author:: Jon Wallace, Jacob N. Shapiro, Pat Ryan, and Danielle F. Jung
Publication Date:: 12-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC)
Abstract:: A cornerstone of strategic thinking is a clear understanding of one’s opponent. Developing such an understanding in dealing with the Islamic State (IS) is challenging. Constraints on access to the frontlines in Iraq and Syria make it unusually hard for researchers to ground assessments in evidence‐based approaches. This occasional paper contributes to the development of an empirically grounded understanding of the IS by analyzing the finances and management of the group’s predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in April 2013 and then the Islamic State in June 2014. There is a direct line of descent from Al‐Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) through the Islamic State of Iraq to today’s Islamic State, despite changes in the group’s territorial holdings and the announced scale of its ambitions. Using historical documents to understand how AQI and the ISI were run can therefore help us better understand the current incarnation of the group, as well as the strengths and weaknesses it may have inherited.
Topic:: Terrorism, Counterinsurgency, Violent Extremism, Counter-terrorism, Islamic State, and War on Terror
Political Geography:: United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Syria

Author:: International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Abstract:: In 2013, ICAN, in partnership with the MIT Center for International Studies and the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), hosted a two-day roundtable to better understand rising religious extremism from a gendered and grounds-up perspective, highlighting the essential yet often overlooked implications for women and the efforts of civil society on the ground. The meeting included civil society practitioners, scholars and journalists with expertise from Canada, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, the United States, and Iran. The roundtable addressed a range of questions. The statements and perspectives included here reflect views shared during the roundtable, and related research and analysis by ICAN. While this brief cannot do justice to the depth and complexity of the discussions, it is intended as a catalyst to widen the space for discussion, research, policy and practice among international and national level scholars and practitioners.
Topic:: Security, Development, Violent Extremism, and Women
Political Geography:: Middle East, Asia, and North Africa

Author:: David B. Carment
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:: Yemen is failing. Not only is it the Arab world’s poorest nation and challenged by mass protests, it is home to a resurgent al-Qaeda, a northern Shi’ite uprising and a revitalized southern secessionist movement. Yemen’s 1990 North-South unification is not working. Today, Yemen stands alongside Pakistan as one of the most important al-Qaeda strongholds in the world and many of that organization’s most dangerous operations have originated there. Judging from their actions, the extremists are both motivated and highly capable. In brief, the underlying sources of instability in Yemen are insoluble over the short run. The country is running out of oil and water. Its leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is proving incapable of holding the country together without force. Transitioning Yemen towards a more democratic system will only mean a hardening of tribal divisions and a deepening of the corruption, clientelism and cronyism that are rife throughout the country.
Topic:: Corruption, Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, and Instability
Political Geography:: Middle East and Yemen

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