13 years after the tragic events of 9/11, al-Qa‘ida can count on as many regional nodes as never before as well as on a still significant influence over the wider jihadi galaxy, thus showing the strenght of its message and of its modus operandi. However, the past few years were marked by the surge of a number of factions that, while sharing several features with the group founded by Osama bin Laden, developed new and often competing political views. Such new actors pose a threat to al-Qa‘ida’s supremacy over the whole jihadi community.

In this context, the e-book "New (and old) patterns of jihadism: al-Qa'ida, the Islamic State and beyond" will adrees the following questions: how did the Islamic State emerge in Iraq and Syria? How serious is the challenge it poses to the international community and to al-Qa‘ida? What impact is to be expected on the Tunisian and Libyan Ansar al-Shariah branches operating throughout North Africa and beyond? Can Sinai become the next frontier of jihadism, and how is it affected by instability in Libya and Palestine? Who are the European jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq? How do security agencies perceive the threat of transnational extremist networks, and which strategies do they implement to face them? 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

FOREWORD, Paolo Magri

 

1. The unfolding legacy of Al-Qaʿida in Iraq: from al-Zarqawi to the new Islamic Caliphate, Andrea Plebani

2. European jihadists in Syria: profiles, travel patterns and governmental responses, Lorenzo Vidino

3. New trends in North African jihadism: Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia and Libya, Stefano M. Torelli and Arturo Varvelli

4. Sinai: next frontier of Jihadism?, Giuseppe Dentice

5. An alternative to ‘going ballistic’. Countering transnational violent extremist networks through a law enforcement operational approach, Emilio Palmieri

 

* The ISPI online papers are also published with the support of Fondazione Cariplo