State Fragility, Migration, Integration and Terrorism? A Historic opportunity towards mutual recognition

Abstract: Jihadism has become a major topic in Western as well as non-western public debate. Many military groups have sprung up in late 20th and early 21st century, claiming legitimacy using jihad for a wide variety of causes ranging from Kashmir, Somalia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Nigeria. This leads to the question whether Islamist fundamentalism has been successful in projecting jihad to mean engagement in a violent ‘holy war’ against the dominant West, which can then be extended against non-Muslims elsewhere. It has assumed the importance of a major factor of contemporary societal, political and military security and insecurity. This thesis attempts to make a small contribution to better understanding some of these aspects of violent jihadism. Since the 1979-1989 war in Afghanistan, terrorist groups continue to use jihad as legitimate justification for all the activities they carry out. The past three decades have witnessed several revivals and reproductions in the global jihadi movement under different names and under various leaders. But they all revolve around the idea of formation of the Caliphate – the ideal state. Even though jihad provided the catalyst for the core doctrine of all these groups and organizations, it is one of many other. These organizations came up in the wake of failed states that had undergone armed conflicts and wars, political violence, human rights violations and military coups. The organizations wasted no time in exploiting situations where there was a security, political or military vacuum and rushed in to lay the groundwork in those areas as a first step that would guarantee its subsequent growth so that it may execute its agendas. Hotbeds of conflict seen in the Islamic world today serve as testament of the success of this tactic. Let us look at the disastrous situation in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan and other countries, in which these groups operate sowing death and destruction, and leading to displacement of populations. My focus in this thesis is on analysing the circumstances that support the growth of terrorist groups, and which enable them to continue in a perpetual state of renewal very similar to the rebranding of corporate brands, by trying to answer the following question: Why do terrorist groups continue to grow anew while they are in a state of permanent renewal?