Road to the Caliphate: The Salafi-Jihadi Movement's Strengths (original) (raw)

Beyond Counterterrorism: Defeating the Salafi-Jihadi Movement

American Enterprise Institute, 2019

The US is losing against al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other like-minded groups, which are all part of the Salafi-jihadi movement. US counterterrorism efforts have made Americans safer, but the Salafi-jihadi movement is more than its terrorism threat. That movement now prioritizes developing its relationships with local Sunni communities, from which it draws its strategic strength, to transform the Muslim world. Winning today means adopting a strategy beyond counterterrorism that will defeat the Salafi-jihadi movement, instead of just countering the terrorism threat. The US must reframe its approach against al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other groups. With the help of partners, the US must sever the ties of the Salafi-jihadi movement to local Sunni communities. America and its allies must offer these communities a viable alternative to these terror groups.

Defining and Understanding the Jihadi-Salafi Movement

Asian Security, 2014

Jihadi-Salafi groups have been on the march in the post-9/11 years on a violent campaign to achieve their ends. From North America to South-East Asia and from Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa, Jihadi-Salafis have attacked Western and local targets with often devastating results. Despite growing attention to the Jihadi-Salafi movement, which includes both globalized and localized components, there are still questions that remain largely unanswered. Three new books can shed light on this modern phenomenon that has preoccupied Western security policies for the past decade. Jihadi-Salafism is a large and diverse movement with a global reach that has embarked on an armed struggle to defend the imagined ummah.

America's Real Enemy: The Salafi-Jihadi Movement

American Enterprise Institute, 2017

The US is losing the war against an enemy it has misunderstood for decades. Al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS), and the Salafi-jihadi groups that threaten the United States are stronger, smarter, and more resilient than they were on September 11, 2001. Americans have confused tactical success on the battlefield against both ISIS and al Qaeda with progress in this war. They have narrowed their understanding of the threat to far-away and compartmentalized fights in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia and to the random acts of inspired violence conducted by "lone wolves." Yet 16 years after going to war, the US is further from winning.