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32. Factsheet: Heiko Heinisch
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- Heiko Heinisch is a German political commentator and writer on Islamism. Heinisch is often presented as an expert on Islam and Islamism by the far-right Austrian government and the Austrian media. He serves on the academic advisory board of Austria’s Documentation Center for Political Islam, a federally funded center for monitoring, surveilling and mapping Muslims in Austria.
- Topic:
- Surveillance, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Islamism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Germany, and Austria
33. Detecting the Ideological Position of Political Islam Towards Liberal Democracy in Muslim Countries
- Author:
- Nikola Gjorshoski and Goran Ilik
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Journal:
- Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
- Institution:
- Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
- Abstract:
- The question of the correlation between Islam, political Islam, and liberal democracy has so far been the most exposed topic in exploring the democratic capacity of political Islam and Islamic societies in general. What is particularly intriguing about the relationship between political Islam and liberal democracy is the fact of its westernized triviality that has received a pejorative tone in Islamic political circles. Simplified, the triviality of liberal democracy for the Islamic political campus implies imposing a model of democracy that cannot be fully compatible with the original Muslim notion of society and government. Hence, the following paper analyzes exactly the relations of political Islam to specific inherent categories of liberal democracy such as the rule of law, representative government, the separation of powers, and secularism as diferenta specifica of liberal western democratic discourse. Through the methods of induction and deduction, the author will illustrate how appropriate tangent or divergence is illustrated and how this is reflected in the general ideological positioning of political Islam towards liberal democracy in Muslim countries through an axiological and praxeological perspective.
- Topic:
- Democracy, Rule of Law, Islamism, Liberalism, Secularism, and Sharia
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North Africa, and Global Focus
34. The historical origins of global jihad, revisited
- Author:
- Thomas Hegghammer and Daniela Pisoiu
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
- Abstract:
- Where does transnational jihadism come from? Why did militant Islamists start targeting the West in the 1990s after decades of operating locally? In this lecture, Thomas Hegghammer revisited the historical origins of the phenomenon often referred to as "global jihadism". Using insights from his latest book, The Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad (Cambridge, 2020), he argued that the standard narrative established in the years after 9/11 was too West-focused and state-centric, and that local politics and technology played a greater role than is often acknowledged.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, History, Non State Actors, Transnational Actors, Violence, Islamism, and Jihad
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
35. The Origins of Boko Haram—And Why It Matters
- Author:
- Audu Bulama Bukarti
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hudson Institute
- Abstract:
- Nigeria’s population of an estimated 200 million people is plagued by an alarming level of violence, which is driven by a toxic mix of brutal extremist groups, criminal gangs and a cropland crisis. These feed into one another, and each is little understood. A key player in the present carnage is Boko Haram, a notorious organization which claims to fight in defense of Islam. Over the last decade from 2009-2019, Boko Haram has waged a campaign of mass violence and wrought havoc in Africa’s Lake Chad region, which comprises northern Nigeria, southeastern Niger, far-northern Cameroon and western Chad. The Boko Haram movement has killed a conservative estimate of 18,000 people, displaced millions, and caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis. In 2014, it was recorded as the world’s deadliest terror group, killing 6,600 in that year alone. Boko Haram is particularly notorious for its violence against children. Indeed, the movement was first catapulted into the attention of western media in April 2014 by its kidnapping of 276 girls from their school dormitory in Chibok village, north-eastern Nigeria. It uses girls as sexual and domestic slaves and as human bombs, targeting civilian locations including markets, hospitals, IDP camps and places of worship. It has also conscripted thousands of boys into its army and forces them to kill in order to keep themselves alive. Boko Haram has established itself as a formidable force and, judging from security force fatalities of 750 in 2019 which is the highest since the violence began, it now appears to be stronger than ever.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Islamism, and Boko Haram
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
36. The “Central African” Jihad: Islamism and Nation-Building in Mozambique and Uganda
- Author:
- James Barnett
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hudson Institute
- Abstract:
- The Islamic State (IS) has not scored many propaganda victories in the year since Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by U.S. forces in Idlib, which makes the recent seizure of a Mozambican port by IS-linked jihadists all the more significant. On August 12, 2020, militants seized Mocímboa da Praia in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province from a demoralized Mozambican army running low on ammunition. This assault on a city of 30,000—the militants’ third and most successful this year 1—marked a notable evolution in an insurgency that began three years ago and was initially characterized by crude and sporadic attacks on villages in the northern province. IS media channels were quick to produce triumphalist statements about the operation, which it attributed to soldiers in its newest affiliate, the Central Africa Province (Wilayat Wasat Ifriqiya or ISCAP).
- Topic:
- Non State Actors, Violent Extremism, History, and Islamism
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, Mozambique, and Central African Republic
37. Iran’s Revolutionary Influence in South Asia
- Author:
- Husain Haqqani
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hudson Institute
- Abstract:
- Soon after Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979, its leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran would challenge “the world’s arrogant powers” across the globe. 1 “We shall export our revolution to the whole world,” he announced, adding that “Until the cry ‘There is no God but God’ resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle.’” 2 The idea of exporting Iran’s ideology was also incorporated in the Islamic Republic’s constitution. Article 154 of the current Iranian constitution affirms that Iran “supports the just struggles of the mustad’afun [oppressed] against the mustakbirun [tyrants] in every corner of the globe.” As is often the case with revolutionary regimes, the early fervor of the Iranian revolution seems to have subsided and the broader goal of replicating the Islamic revolution has been modified to expanding Tehran’s influence and ensuring external support for the survival of its clerical regime. But Iran still pursues a robust policy of cultivating and deploying proxies in other, mainly Muslim countries. The role of Iran’s proxies and allies in the Middle East is well known, partly because it is more overt. Hezbollah’s targeting of Israel and its efforts to dominate Lebanon, Iran’s role in propping up the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, or its political and militant meddling in Iraq and Yemen often make headlines. But the Ayatollahs have also expanded their influence across South, Central, and East Asia without attracting the same level of attention as their activities in the Middle East.
- Topic:
- History, Ideology, Islamism, and Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Iran, South Asia, Indonesia, and Middle East
38. Rise and Fall? The Rise and Fall of ISIS in Libya
- Author:
- Azeem Ibrahim
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- This monograph places events in Libya since 2011 into their historical and social context and argues a form of radical Islamism, linked to long-standing national defiance of outside control, remains a factor even after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This entrenched radicalism means extremist Islamist groups may still make a renewed bid for power until the current civil war is resolved. At the time of this writing, the military campaign by the Libyan National Army has stalled outside Tripoli. Now is the time for the United States and the wider international community to step up and help Libya transition to a unitary government with conventional elections. If this fails to happen and ISIS is able to exploit the current chaos, the hard-won victory over the group in Libya may yet turn out to have been illusory.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Radicalization, Islamic State, Conflict, Islamism, Khalifa Haftar, and Muammar Gaddafi
- Political Geography:
- Libya and North America
39. A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration
- Author:
- Dr. Robert J. Bunker
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- June 2014 to December 2017 represented the high tide of radical Islamist (Salafi-jihadist) territorial control under the authority of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. This monograph analyzes and provides policy response options for US national security and Army planners concerning the potential for postterritorial caliphate battlefield migration by the sizable contingent of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters situated within various enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The monograph achieves these ends by discussing Islamic State territorial eras and demographics; offering an overview of the initial inflows of these fighters into the territorial caliphate, outflows to the United States, and lateral transfers to new battlefields, as well as mentioning special issues related to Islamic State women and children; highlighting and analyzing the four strategic options available to the Islamic State in its postterritorial caliphate phase; and offering senior US policy makers and planners options for counterbattlefield migration policy responses. These options pertain to policies focused on extremists and the Islamic State as an organization and embedded within the context of higher-level US foreign policies toward Syria and Iraq. Additionally, recommendations for counterforeign terrorist fighter programs and the Joint force are provided.
- Topic:
- Insurgency, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, Islamism, Army, and Foreign Fighters
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, and Syria
40. Al-Shabaab Attacks Spike, as COVID-19 Grips the World
- Author:
- Sunguta West
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Al-Shabaab’s recent attack targeting Somalia’s head of the military is the latest indication of the Islamist militant group’s growing confidence in its battle for control of the war-torn country in the Horn of Africa. Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, has been waging a deadly insurgency in the country for 14 years. Its weapons of choice have ranged from improvised explosive devices (IED) and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), to deploying suicide bombers to target security forces, public installations, and government officials. Its war is largely asymmetrical, where it also relies on hit and run attacks, assassinations, and grenade attacks.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Islamism, Al Shabaab, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somalia