Jihadism | Jihadists
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Recruitment strategies used by Islamic State
A mutation of religion
The crude promises of salvation and ideological constructs propagated by IS, and the apocalyptic fantasies it is spreading via films and magazines on the Internet make the terrorist militia attractive to radical forces not only in the Arab world but in Europe too. By Michael Kiefer
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Interview with Nader Othman, deputy PM of the Syrian interim government
People want professionals, not Facebook heroes
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and the interim government it has formed have been subject to international criticism. They are regarded as ineffective, disunited and lacking support in Syria. Kristin Helberg spoke to the deputy prime minister of the interim government, Nader Othman, about elected provincial councils, progress and why Syria now needs engineers, not heroes
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Radical Islamist groups in Tunisia
Tunisian-style jihad
The recent high-profile attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis shines a spotlight on the radical Islamist network that has emerged in Tunisia since the fall of the Ben Ali regime. An analysis by Hanspeter Mattes of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies
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Interview with Rami G. Khouri
Fragmentation of the Arab world
The Palestinian-Jordanian political scientist and writer Rami G. Khouri sees links between increasing religious fanaticism and the reinvigoration of the old elites after the Arabellion. In an interview with Juliane Metzker, he looks back at four years of transformation, stagnation and instability in the Arab states.
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The geopolitical situation in the Middle East
Between terror and the dissolution of order
Indifferent superpowers and old rivalries: the megatrend in today's Middle East is the dissolution of a regional order. An analysis by Volker Perthes
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Sunni-Shia conflict
The enemy of my enemy
Anyone who thinks that the Sunnis in Tikrit and Mosul will welcome the opponents of Islamic State with open arms as liberators is mistaken. They fear the Shia militias even more than they do IS. This shows how the inner-Islamic religious war has polarised Iraqi society. By Stefan Buchen
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India and "Islamic State"
Indian Muslims not heeding the siren call of IS
IS's recruitment of fighters for the "holy war" in Syria and Iraq has long been an international problem. In India, home to the world's second largest Muslim population, the security forces are also alert to the issue. By Ronald Meinardus in New Delhi
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Interview with the Islam scholar Lamya Kaddor
Jihad as a form of youth protest
In her new book "Zum Töten bereit. Warum deutsche Jugendliche in den Dschihad ziehen" (Willing to kill. Why German youths are joining the jihad), religious education teacher and scholar of Islam Lamya Kaddor asks why some young Germans are attracted to the jihadi cause. Claudia Mende spoke to her about the radicalisation of young Germans
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Jihadism in Dagestan
A growing problem in the fight against terrorism
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia are known to be hotbeds of Islamist activity. For some time now, many young, radicalised Muslims have been leaving their homes in Europe and northern Africa to join the ranks of radical Islamist groups such as IS. However, little attention has thus far been paid to the number of jihadis coming out of the Russian Republic of Dagestan. By Kiran Nazish in Afghanistan
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Offensive against IS in Iraq
Sowing the seeds of the next disaster
With their keen fighting spirit, the Shia militias may well be an effective weapon in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq. However, this is quite literally a case of casting out the devil that is IS with the Beelzebub that is the Shia militias, says Karim El-Gawhary
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"Islamic State" versus "Taliban Emirate"
One caliph too many
The IS terrorists' self-proclaimed caliphate does not recognise borders. For some time now, the black flags of "Islamic State" have also been sighted in Afghanistan. This is a direct challenge to their rivals from the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", better known as the Taliban. By Emran Feroz
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"Women of the Islamic State"
Prisoners of a barbaric system
Marriage at age nine is permitted, working is not; make-up is evil. A new treatise written by female supporters of IS sheds light on the image and role of women in the area controlled by Islamic State. By Prof Susanne Schroeter