Violent non-state actors have become almost endemic to political movements in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. This book examines why they play such a key role and the different ways in which they have developed. Placing them in the context of the region, separate chapters cover the organizations that are currently active, including: The Muslim Brotherhood, The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, Hamas, Hizbullah, the PKK, al-Shabab and the Huthis.
The book shows that while these groups are a new phenomenon, they also relate to other key factors including the 'unfinished business' of the colonial and postcolonial eras and tacit encouragement of the Wahhabi/Salafi/jihadi da'wa by some regional powers. Their diversity means violent non-state actors elude simple classification, ranging from 'national' and 'transnational' to religious and political movements. However, by examining their origins, their supporters and their motivations, this book helps explain their ubiquity in the region.
Author(s): Peter Sluglett, Victor Kattan
Series: Library of Modern Middle East Studies
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 240
City: London
Cover page
Halftitle page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Preface
Foreword: Peter Sluglett and the Study of the Modern Middle East
Introduction: Violent Non-State Actors in the Arab World – Some General Considerations
The colonial context
Independence movements and the post-colonial state in the Middle East
Challenges to absolute state power
Violent challenges to the state
1 The Muslim Brotherhood and Violence: Porous Boundaries and Context
Introduction
Porous boundaries vs context
The Ikhwan’s foundational ambiguities
Ambiguities in action: al-Nizam al-Khass
Qutb: the never fading impact
Context controls porous boundaries
2 Understanding ISIS: The Interplay between Ideology and Context
Introduction
The historical context
Structural and cultural violence
Radicalism vs terrorism: a paradigm shift
Conclusion
3 Between Religion, Warfare and Politics: The Case of Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria
The origins of al-Nusra as an imported phenomenon: its ideological and regional roots
Al-Nusra’s ‘moderate’ strategy: hitting the ‘near enemy’, obtaining local support and rooting into the society
Military tactics, weaponry and political strategies
Leadership and hierarchy
Territorial control: al-Nusra’s policy towards local populations
International support and al-Nusra’s integration in the regional game
Relations with other rebel groups: a case of ‘coopetition’?
Inside or outside global armed jihad? Al-Nusra’s split from al-Qaeda in summer 2016
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham: towards a definitive rupture with al-Qaeda?
Conclusion
4 The 2007 Hamas–Fatah Conflict in Gaza and the Israeli–American Demands
Nothing is ever what it seems in Palestine
Fatah and Hamas: conjoined at birth
The causes of the Fatah–Hamas division
Fatah, Hamas, and the illegitimacy of armed struggle in a post-9/11 world
Israel disengages from Gaza
The Fatah–Hamas divide deepens
Hamas takes over Gaza
Conclusion
5 Hezbollah and the Lebanese State: Indispensable, Unpredictable – Destabilizing?
The rise of the Shias as a ‘significant force’ in Lebanese politics
The Civil War and its consequences
The assassination of Rafiq Hariri
Israel’s incursion into Lebanon, July–August 2006
Hezbollah’s role in Syria
Epilogue: the present situation
6 When the State Becomes a Non-State: Yemen between the Huthis, Hirak and Al-Qaeda
Introduction
Successfully challenging the state: the rise of the Huthis
Prelude to the Huthi insurgency: Yemen’s sectarian ‘imam’ ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Salih
The fallout of the proxy war
Rebuilding the Yemeni state and restoring Yemeni society
Remarks that are not a conclusion
7 Violent Non-State Actors in Somalia: Al-Shabab and the Pirates
Introduction
Understanding violent non-state actors
Violent non-state actors in Somalia: al-Shabab and the pirates
Al-Shabab: origins, expansion and decline
The rise and decline of pirates in Somalia
The relationship between al-Shabab and piracy
Why have the pirates and al-Shabab persisted?
Strategies for controlling violent non-state actors
Conclusion
8 ‘Being in Time’: Kurdish Movement and Quests of Universal
‘Minorities’, ‘nationalism’ and ideologies
The pre-World War II Kurdish movement
The hegemony of the left
The left-wing radicalization of the 1970s
1980s–2010s: facing the domination of Islamism
The vacuum of the 2000s–2010s
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index
