scholarly journals TERRORIST THREATS BY BALKANS RADICAL ISLAMIST TO INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Author(s):  
Darko Trifunović ◽  
Milan Mijalkovski

The decade-long armed conflict in the Balkans from 1991 to 2001, greatly misrepresented in the Western public, were the biggest defeat for the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, a great defeat for Europe - but a victory for global jihad. Radical Islamists used the wars to recruit a large number of Sunni Muslims in the Balkans (Bosnian and Herzagovina and Albanian) for the cause of political Islam and militant Jihad. Converts to Wahhabi Islam not only provide recruits for the so-called “White Al-Qaeda,” but also exhibit growing territorial claims and seek the establishment of a “Balkan Caliphate.” Powers outside the Balkans regard this with indifference or even tacit approval. Radical Islamist activity is endangering the security of not only Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and BosniaHerzegovina, but also Europe and the world.

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-25
Author(s):  
Natalia Nowińska-Antoniewicz

The article presents phenomenon of emergence of Serbian alternative comics scene during the period of breakup of Yugoslavia. The analysis is focused on anthology of works “Regards from Serbia” by Aleksandar Zograf who is considered the founder of the new direction in comic art. The works drawn over the nineties were portraying everyday life in Yugoslavia during its breakup. This period has been considered a strong taboo since and is not being willingly taken up by scientist from former-Yugoslavia what makes it difficult to gain knowledge that would meet scientific standards. Zograf’s comics were being published both in his country and abroad, what made them source of knowledge on situation in the Balkans of the world. In the article comic art is also being treated as anthropological evidence that enables understanding of foreign culture and processes related to attempts of rejection of the old ideological, moral, and axiological order.


Author(s):  
Dmitar Tasić

It summarises previous chapters and their conclusions about very alive legacies of paramilitarism in the Balkans, and how it is possible to invoke paramilitary traditions and embed them into contemporary context. By the rule these attempts proved to be simple misuse either by political or structures close to the secret services. Up to now modern paramilitarism and its relations with Balkan paramilitary traditions didn’t attract public attention apart of several journalists who published several works and one documentary on different Serbian paramilitary formations during the wars of Yugoslav succession. What is raising concerns and can be qualified as alarming is that paramilitaries were perpetrators of most horrible war crimes and different violent acts against civilian population especially during the latest wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s, and that during that period some of them created strong ties with the world of international organized crime.


Author(s):  
Ararat Kostanian

The purpose of the essay is to illustrate the Ideological aspect of al Qaeda that constitutes the pillar of the organisation based on distinct interpretation of Quran and biased understanding of the meaning of Jihad. The functional method of al Qaeda is not simplistic or unsystematic, aimed at particular target or focused or specific country or region. The creation of such transnational organisation couldn’t have been revealed without political Ideology with its manifesto and the mechanism to spread its messages all over the world. It will not be correct to put al Qaeda among the category of the classical terror groups as I have shown in the essay as a comparison. Moreover, it is not similar to any categories of political Islam movements; since the distinction between Jihad and waging war has always been differentiated in the context of Political Islam. Whereas al Qaeda declares enemies in the house of Islam as well to countries, people and Institutions differ with their own created ideology. This distorted ideology has spread all over the world and become an enemy to Islam itself, which harmed the reputation of Islam as a religion. Attention on the ideologic context of al Qaeda hasn’t been researched well, unknown to majority of the experts. Instead, the attention at most has been put on its ground actions, security concerns and counter terrorism.


Author(s):  
Ararat Kostanian

The purpose of the essay is to illustrate the Ideological aspect of al Qaeda that constitutes the pillar of the organisation based on distinct interpretation of Quran and biased understanding of the meaning of Jihad. The functional method of al Qaeda is not simplistic or unsystematic, aimed at particular target or focused or specific country or region. The creation of such transnational organisation couldn’t have been revealed without political Ideology with its manifesto and the mechanism to spread its messages all over the world. It will not be correct to put al Qaeda among the category of the classical terror groups as I have shown in the essay as a comparison. Moreover, it is not similar to any categories of political Islam movements; since the distinction between Jihad and waging war has always been differentiated in the context of Political Islam. Whereas al Qaeda declares enemies in the house of Islam as well to countries, people and Institutions differ with their own created ideology. This distorted ideology has spread all over the world and become an enemy to Islam itself, which harmed the reputation of Islam as a religion. Attention on the ideologic context of al Qaeda hasn’t been researched well, unknown to majority of the experts. Instead, the attention at most has been put on its ground actions, security concerns and counter terrorism.


Author(s):  
Oscar Gakuo Mwangi

The Somalia-based Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujaheddin, commonly known as al-Shabaab, is a violent nonstate armed actor that has been designated a terrorist group. Its origins are a function of domestic and international factors that include the resurgence of political Islam in Somalia, the Afghan War of 1979 to 1989, state collapse and the prominent rise of the Union of Islamic Courts in the country. Consequently al-Shabaab adopted Islamism, in particular Salafi jihadism, as a political ideology to achieve its objective of creating an Islamic caliphate in the Horn of Africa. Since its formation in 2006, al-Shabaab’s organizational structure, its strategies and tactics of radicalization, recruitment, financing, and military warfare have been based on Islamist doctrines. Al-Shabaab’s effective use of Salafi jihadism to pursue its objectives has made it the greatest threat to peace and stability in Somalia. By establishing links with international groups that advocate a similar ideology, such as al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab has successfully managed to transform itself from a domestic to a transnational actor, thereby also constituting a threat to international security.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Nader Hashemi

The year 2020 roughly corresponds with the 40th anniversary of the rise of political Islam on the world stage. This topic has generated controversy about its impact on Muslims societies and international affairs more broadly, including how governments should respond to this socio-political phenomenon. This article has modest aims. It seeks to reflect on the broad theme of political Islam four decades after it first captured global headlines by critically examining two separate but interrelated controversies. The first theme is political Islam’s acquisition of state power. Specifically, how have the various experiments of Islamism in power effected the popularity, prestige, and future trajectory of political Islam? Secondly, the theme of political Islam and violence is examined. In this section, I interrogate the claim that mainstream political Islam acts as a “gateway drug” to radical extremism in the form of Al Qaeda or ISIS. This thesis gained popularity in recent years, yet its validity is open to question and should be subjected to further scrutiny and analysis. I examine these questions in this article.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-46
Author(s):  
Vesna Čopič

The purpose of this text is to offer a comparative look at how the various cultural policies in the former Yugoslavia have developed in the name of democratisation. A large internal divergence between differ-ent parts of the once united state results mainly from armed conflict in the 1990s accompanied by dif-ferent levels of material devastation, destruction of social structures, or isolation from the rest of the world. This text could well be just one of many stories and is written with brutal simplicity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-64
Author(s):  
Mirela Metushaj

Abstract Albania, a stabilizing factor in the region favored by its geostrategic position. Albania, being a small country in the world geography, but also in the regional one, has played a determining role in several historical moments after ’90 for its membership in the NATO, and after the membership in this organization it has played a role in guaranteeing stability and peace in the Western Balkans, and therefore in the international arena. It is a known fact that Western Balkans had and still has many ethnic, cultural and religious conflicts and has experienced various challenges which provoked the stability of the countries which, after a difficult time after the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, have been able to be independent and internationally recognized countries, aiming to become members of the NATO and EU, and for this reason they have been little prone to develop conflicts between them. Albania has proved to be always in favor of dialogue and stability in the relations between the states, with the main purpose of achieving the major aim for the Western Balkans to become a complete member in European and international organizations, as this would influence the vital and political improvement not only in some countries of the Balkans, but in the Balkans as a whole, especially in the economic aspect. What is the role of the geostrategic position of Albania in the region and elsewhere from the stability viewpoint?


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (04) ◽  
pp. 245-250
Author(s):  
A. Speckhard

SummaryAs a terror tactic, suicide terrorism is one of the most lethal as it relies on a human being to deliver and detonate the device. Suicide terrorism is not confined to a single region or religion. On the contrary, it has a global appeal, and in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan it has come to represent an almost daily reality as it has become the weapon of choice for some of the most dreaded terrorist organizations in the world, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. Drawing on over two decades of extensive field research in five distinct world regions, specifically the Middle East, Western Europe, North America, Russia, and the Balkans, the author discusses the origins of modern day suicide terrorism, motivational factors behind suicide terrorism, its global migration, and its appeal to modern-day terrorist groups to embrace it as a tactic.


Author(s):  
Дмитрий Викторович Кияйкин ◽  
Екатерина Андреевна Дворецкая

В статье раскрываются особенности сущностного понимания религиозного экстремизма и организационно-правовой профилактики данного явления. Обращено внимание на важность профилактической работы в рамках предупреждения антиобщественного (девиантного) поведения. Авторами рассматриваются причины и условия формирования религиозного экстремизма и наполнения им сети Интернет. Интернет-сообщество сталкивается с массовой информационной угрозой со стороны экстремистских организаций. Это связано с катастрофически быстрым распространением радикальных идеологий, всеобщей компьютеризацией и информатизацией общественных процессов, что облегчает процесс распространения материалов, носящих экстремистский характер. Религиозный экстремизм является источником вооруженных конфликтов во всем мире. Жертвами этого страшного явления, как правило, являются дети, подростки, молодые люди, кого легко заманить в сети идеологического обмана. Религиозный экстремизм опасен не только разрушением социальных объектов и ценностей, убийствами, террором. Гораздо опаснее сама идеология экстремизма, которая искажает мировоззрение и психику человека. В этих условиях эффективным является проведение профилактических мероприятий с молодым поколением, доведение до людей важности вопроса, осуществление контроля за неблагополучными семьями, обучение молодых лиц толерантности и уважению к окружающим людям. В работе определены направления работы правоохранительных органов по вопросу совершенствования механизма противодействия распространению экстремистской информации. Определена важность международного сотрудничества. The article reveals the features of the essential understanding of religious extremism and organizational and legal prevention of this phenomenon. Attention is drawn to the importance of preventive work as part of the prevention of antisocial (deviant) behavior. The authors consider the reasons and conditions for the formation of religious extremism and the filling of the Internet. The online community is facing a massive information threat from extremist organizations. This is due to the catastrophically lightning-fast spread of radical ideologies, the general computerization and informatization of social processes, which facilitates the process of distributing materials of an extremist nature. Religious extremism is a source of armed conflict throughout the world. The victims of this terrible phenomenon, as a rule, are children, adolescents, young people and girls - whom it is easy to lure into networks of ideological deception. Religious extremism is dangerous not only the destruction of social objects and values, murders, terror. The ideology of extremism itself, which distorts the worldview and the human psyche, is much more dangerous. Religious extremism is a source of armed conflict throughout the world. The victims of this terrible phenomenon, as a rule, are children, adolescents, young people and girls - whom it is easy to lure into networks of ideological deception. Religious extremism is dangerous not only the destruction of social objects and values, murders, terror. The ideology of extremism itself, which distorts the worldview and the human psyche, is much more dangerous.


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