The Isolated Islamists: The Case of the Allied Democratic Forces in the Ugandan-Congolese Borderland
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2-9-2016
Department
Political Science
Abstract
This study investigates the absence of substantive linkages between locally based Salafi Jihadist movements and their more transnational counterparts such as Al-Qaeda or ISIS. While studies have addressed the heterogeneity in Jihadi alliances, the question of why inter-Jihadi ties are completely absent or tenuous at times is under-theorized in the literature. Given ISIS’s recent inexorable advance through the Middle East and North Africa and its ever-growing ties with local Jihadists, it is timely to investigate under what conditions locally based militant Islamists are less likely to forge ties with global Jihadists. Using the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)—a militant Islamist group in the Ugandan-Congolese borderland—as an illustrative case study, the research sheds light on conditions under which inter-Jihadi ties are less likely. These include the extent of ideological divergence between local and global Jihadists, the degree of relevance to the local community, and the fear of attracting new enemies in the form of more stringent counter-terrorism operations.
Recommended Citation
Suranjan Weeraratne & Sterling Recker (2016): The isolated Islamists: The case of the Allied Democratic Forces in the Ugandan-Congolese borderland, Terrorism and Political Violence, DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2016.1139577
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Terrorism and Political Violence on February 9, 2016, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2016.1139577.