STRATFOR's George Friedman examines the history and evolution of jihadism in a report reprinted at The Braden Files. It's a useful summary of one dimension (out of many) of the challenges faced by the West in its evolving face-off with relentless enemies.
In the course of relatively few years, jihadism has burgeoned from a low-key movement seeking the ouster of corrupt regimes in the Muslim world into a global phenomenon that seeks to eradicate Western influence from that world. Though the movement is encapsulated in the minds of the public by the person of Osama bin Laden, it is important to understand that the phenomenon is not restricted to a particular group or brand of groups, but rather is a broad ideological movement to which many disparate groups -- separated by geography, individual motivations and even immediate political goals -- may belong.Posted by Alan at November 30, 2004 12:08 AMFor our purposes, jihadism is defined as an ideology espoused by a fringe minority of various extremist Muslim groups, all operating on the periphery of the Islamist political spectrum. The movement has appropriated the notion of jihad ( "righteous struggle") in calling for the use of force - against either military or civilian targets -- by non-state actors whose ultimate objective is to establish an Islamic state.
The movement, which has been propelled by a number of events during the course of the past half-century, today is being driven forward chiefly by two factors: the continued decentralization of al Qaeda and the U.S. occupation of Iraq....
Prior to al Qaeda's emergence, the jihadist movement lacked a standard-bearer. Instead, it was a grouping of religious scholars and activists, rallying to various interpretations of the Koran and Sunnah. To some extent, that reality continues today -- though the movement as a whole is heavily influenced by al Qaeda's Wahhabi extremism. However, al Qaeda does not represent the sum total of jihadism. Bin Laden views himself and his organization as a vanguard for the wider movement.
Ultimately, the jihadists are set apart from other Muslims by their use of jihad as a vehicle to establish an Islamic polity -- a departure from the classic conception of jihad as an affair to be conducted by Islamic authorities, such as the caliphates and various local or regional emirates. The philosophy that non-state actors can appropriate jihad - which has been the prerogative of a state entity -- is an unprecedented intellectual development in the history of Islam. More.