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01/11/2008
CCAS Publishes Occasional Paper on Al-Qaida in the Maghreb
The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University is pleased to announce the publication of its latest Occasional Paper, Is the Maghreb the "Next Afghanistan?”: Mapping the Radicalization of the Algerian Salafi Jihadist Movement, by Dr. Noureddine Jebnoun, currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a former Mediterranean Dialogue Fellow at the NATO Defense College of Rome. Jebnoun, who holds a PhD in Political Science, Strategic and Security Studies from the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne, formerly taught Strategy and Geopolitics at the Tunisian War College.
Dr. Jebnoun will discuss his paper and present video clips of Jihadist operations in Algeria at a public event on Wednesday, January 23rd from noon until 2 p.m. in the CCAS Boardroom. Dr. I. William Zartman, Jacob Blaustein professor of International Organizations and Conflict Resolution and the director of the Conflict Management Program at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and Dr. Haizam Amira Fernandez, of the El Cano Institute in Madrid, Spain, will provide critical responses to Dr. Jebnoun’s presentation. Those wishing to attend the event should contact Margaret Daher, CCAS Public Affairs Coordinator at mad35@georgetown.edu .
Jebnoun notes that 2007 was one of Algeria’s most violent years since the “red decade” of the 1990s. The December 11th attacks in Algiers were the latest in a long line of bombings that have increased in intensity since last February, when seven bombs exploded simultaneously, killing at least six people in the southeast area of Algiers. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) modus operandi has shifted from targeting Algerian security and military installations to attacking governmental facilities and foreign interests with simultaneous suicide attacks.
Jebnoun’s paper illustrates how forecasts about Islamist political extremism in North Africa have enhanced regional governments’ geostrategic positioning in the “Global War on Terror” (GWOT) by strengthening their diplomatic and military ties to the United States. Speculations and warnings about the “Afghanistan-ization” of North Africa have not, however, contributed to the development of a viable interpretive framework for assessing the contexts and interests underpinning radicalization. “In reality, the threat level in the Maghreb in general, and in Algeria in particular, can only be understood by taking the internal political situation into consideration,” Jebnoun stressed.
Dr. Jebnoun argues that a completely reformed American security plan for the Maghreb region is imperative. He suggests that the US incorporate “soft power” initiatives in order to strengthen regional economic progress, promote good governance, and facilitate political transition. “US policymakers should understand that the war against terror cannot be won by security and armed force alone. A ‘kill or capture’ approach does not acknowledge the dynamics of sociocultural and political factors in the North African environment. Poverty, cultural alienation, and authoritarianism continue to fuel jihadi violence. The Salafist movement remains a very attractive life choice for disenfranchised and disillusioned North African youth.”
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