Traditions of maghrebi-saheli statehood and islamic radicalism in Early XXI Century

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Abstract

The significance of this research topic is due to the relevance of the problems of modern state-building in the public and political life of North and West Africa. The purpose of the research project is to analyze the causes and consequences of the emergence of radical movements of political Islam in the Maghreb and Sahel at the junction of the XX and XXI centuries and their connection with the shortcomings of national statehood inherent in both African regions. At the same time, the author focuses on the incompleteness of the state-building process, the weakness of institutions and the low level of justification for drawing state borders as concrete examples of such shortcomings that affected the socio-political climate in the Islamized areas adjacent to the Sahara. Based on the materials of sources and the theoretical model of regional security complexes (RSC), the author identified contradictions and diversity in the ideological and value views of the North African ruling circles, analyzed the methodological and spiritual and political foundations of the deeply rooted relationship between criminal and Islamist groups on the example of the activities of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) (аn organization included in the list of terrorist organizations in theRussian Federation is mentioned) and its leaders - Abd al-Malik Drukdel, Mukhtar Belmukhtar, etc. It is proved that “Islamist internationalism” in the Maghreb and Sahel of the 2000s began to take ethnocultural forms, which was caused by the ‘network’ and ‘umbrell’a nature of the AQIM (аn organization included in the list of terrorist organizations in theRussian Federation is mentioned) structure, in which there was no centralized administrative-territorial management scheme. In addition, the distinctive features of the security policy of modern Algeria are shown and the importance of studying interregional contradictions for characterizing the geopolitical and economic reasons for the strengthening of Islamic radicalism in Africa is revealed.

About the authors

Vladimir Viktorovich Orlov

Lomonosov State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: alsavlor@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2649-5422
SPIN-code: 6318-4102

Doctor (Historical Sciences), Professor of the Department of History of the Near and Middle East, Institute of Asian and African Studies

11/1 Mokhovaya St, Moscow, 125009, Russian Federation

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