This diploma thesis is about financing of terrorism and the countermeasures of the international community. First, the issue is described from a general perspective. The first half of the thesis deals with the definition of terrorism and general ways how terrorist groups finance themselves. The following part is a summary of the most important countermeasures at universal and regional levels. The second part deals with the case of the terrorist group ISIL. First, the development of the group and its financial resources are explained. In the final part there is a list of international measures against ISIL and, given the still ongoing development, so far limited evaluation of their effectiveness and how they could develop in the future. The aim of this thesis is to cexplain how ISIL obtains the necessary funding and what are currently international countermeasures.

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This thesis in Peace and Conflict addresses the development and impacts of the Islamic organisation Boko Haram in the context of frustration-aggression and complexity theories. It investigates the overall phenomenon of terrorism, reviews Boko Haram’s context within other terrorist organisations, and the impact that Boko Haram has had in the development of the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. Local and regional response to threats by Boko Haram is considered, as well as Boko Haram’s recent pledge to the ISIL terrorist organisation. The Boko Haram (BH) Islamic fundamentalist emerged in Nigeria in 2002 with the idea of turning Nigeria into an Islamic country to be ruled by the Sharia law. Other reasons were hatred for the West and adverse domestic factors in the north-east where the group has been more prevalent. The domestic-based insurgent group established links with some international terrorist organizations (ITOs) such as Al-Qaeda, AQIM and Al-Shabaab and became more sophisticated in its attacks and tactics which made it to threaten the national security of Nigeria in the destruction of lives and properties. This paper seeks to argue the evolution Boko Haram arising from some domestic factors prevalent in the north-east of Nigeria; and then conclude with some measures to be in place to put an end to the criminality perpetuated by the group in the country with the ability to seriously threaten the security of the state and the society. Finally, suggestions for policy recommendations to the Nigerian government are made.

In this essay I examine and criticize Jeffrey Kaplans fifth wave theory of terrorism, the theory is an addition and through the elaboration of professor David C. Rapoports classic Fourth wave theory. I have chosen to do that   by comparing al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State using their corresponding magazines Inspire and Dabiq. The goal of this exercise is to prove that what we experience with the Islamic State is not the beginning of a new wave of terrorism as Kaplan call it, but a state in making. Kaplans fifth wave gives us a good method to analyze terror organizations in between the state of organization and state but fails to live up to a new wave of terrorism. I therefore argue that what we are seeing for the movement is not the birth of a fifth wave, but rather a new development of a fourth.

The most severe threat against international peace and security is the global terrorism, more specifically the Islamic State as a terrorist organization which has been pointed out as a new form of terrorism due to its unique recruiting and propaganda dissemination using the Internet. The global terrorism as a phenomenon is in need of a global response however the term terrorism lacks a clear definition which makes one wonder how such a response would look like. The aim of this paper is to examine the five permanent member states in the UN security council through a comparative idea analyses to clarify if a consensus exsist on how terrorism is perceive and how terrorism should be fought. Inspired by Andrew Heywood and Gus Martin this paper uses an analyses technique to process the documents from the UN:s database. The conclusion of this paper states that the five member states agree that to counter terrorism they need to work together however disagrees on how the work against terrorism should be fought at a national level.Therefor this paper will argue that the lack of a clear definition on terrorism problematizes the efficiency of the counter-terrorism work.

The so called ‘Islamic State,’ an Islamic extremist organization which currently controls large swaths of territory in the Middle East, has attracted foreign fighters to its insurgency in tens of thousands. Until just recently, foreign fighters were not well researched or understood separately from local fighters. David Malet (2013) argues that insurgencies recruit foreign fighters by persuading them to defend a ‘common group’ against a threatening enemy. This ‘defensive mobilization,’ he believed, was critical to recruiting foreign fighters throughout history. After preliminary analysis, the Islamic State presented evidence contrary to this theory, and it seemed dubious that they would use defensive mobilization to recruit foreign fighters. By analyzing at Islamic State’s recruitment propaganda, this research found that the Islamic State did indeed break with Malet’s understanding of foreign fighters. Interestingly, the Islamic State instead invoked the religious duty to conquer on behalf of a legitimate religious state and restore Islamic dominion over the world. These findings may serve to increase our understanding of the Islamic State in general and will likely cause us to make adjustments in how we understand foreign fighter recruitment to other civil conflicts.

Master of Arts / Department of Communications Studies / Soumia Bardhan / In July of 2014, a spokesperson for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) made a televised announcement that captured the attention of the world – the terrorist organization decided to tweak its name to simply the Islamic State (IS), to indicate its intention of moving beyond Iraq and the Levant and conquering the world. This shift in rhetoric, along with the phenomenon of Muslims and non-Muslims from Western nations leaving their homes, friends, and families behind to join IS, have prompted discussions and debates on what makes this terror group’s message so effective. In the days following IS’s name change, the first issue of its magazine Dabiq was published online through its Al-Hayat Media Center. With versions in English, Arabic, German, French, and more, the magazine gained notoriety for its high-production value. This study seeks to understand the ideology manifest in IS rhetoric in Dabiq, which makes it so captivating to both sympathizers and agitators alike. This study is an ideological criticism of six of the fifteen issues of Dabiq published; the six issues chosen were all released in relation to catalytic events perpetrated or claimed by the terror group. For instance, the November 2015 Paris attacks or the shooting in San Bernardino, CA, by a ‘radicalized’ couple who pledged allegiance to IS. This study unearthed major themes of political claims, religious appeals, and terrorist actions which IS uses to incite recruitment. This analysis identifies IS’s ideology as one of Political Islamist Terrorism, and concludes with implications concerning exceptionalism and the persuasive appeal of Dabiq.

A content analysis of "Islamic State" (IS) propaganda material released around the movement's proclamation of a Caliphate in 2014, this study is an attempt at analysing ways in which presented arguments express a coherent narrative of symbolic meaning. Using Robert Benford & David Snow's ideas on the so-called three core framing tasks as a clarifying template, I discuss ways in which the analysed material argues for the legitimacy and relevance of the IS movement. IS propagandists argue that the Muslim umma is under attack, and that Muslims need to unite under a common authority that can protect their religion, restore their strength, and counteract their humiliation. The IS Caliphate is presented as a hopeful sign, but is in need of committed recruits who are willing to sacrifice for what is presented as the greater good. As the analysed propaganda is particularly focused on this latter (motivational) aspect of the narrative, it focuses extensively on formulating arguments that reinforce it. I hold that many of these arguments can be traced back to what can be described as appeals to virtues like sincerity, authenticity, and truthfulness – and that all of these are also used to argue for the credibility of the IS Caliphate as an Islamic authority. Arguing that this Caliphate will serve the role of an aiding sword of Islam, it is furthermore presented as a necessary and vigorous structure aimed at protecting "truth" and at eradicating "falsehood".

The current conflict in Syria and Iraq has attracted a large number of foreign fighters (FFs) from Western countries. The main question of this thesis is why these countries do not have a similar pattern for their proportions of FFs. This thesis explores this question in nine Western countries with varying proportions of FFs: Finland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Canada, Australia, and America. Through a case study of Islamic State’s online FF recruitment campaign, it will be shown that common religious identity is the main part of the group’s recruitment message. However, comparing the identified countries on factors related to Muslims’ identity and integration uncovers that common Muslim identity itself is not capable of answering the question; instead, it is Muslims’ integration into their surrounding societies that correlates with proportions of FFs from identified countries. / Graduate / 0615 / 0616 / 0750 / mhashemi@uvic.ca

To many individuals, particularly to Muslims, ISIL’s social network as well as its undying, though misleading, devotion to Islam is attractive. However, with the general human tendency to avoid killing and committing acts generally deemed as heinous, this brings into question the mechanisms that are behind the choice to join ISIL, and how these recruits are able to view membership to such a group as appealing. Janoff-Bulman, Sheikh, and Hepp (2009) identified and distinguished between two constructs of morality: the approach, activation-based prescriptive morality and inhibitory, condemnatory proscriptive morality. This study evaluates the role of these two moral regulators and how they motivate people to join an organization known for its medieval, murderous tactics, hypothesizing that there is support for both prescriptive and proscriptive morality, with prescriptive motivation being the dominant morality when faced with joining ISIL. To prove this, articles with empirical evidence for both religious and social identification as variables that cause people to behave more prescriptively or prescriptively are assessed. Though most of the studies examined provide behavioral support for prescriptive morality as the stronger motive when joining ISIL, there are limitations to what we can infer from this literature review alone. Theoretical implications in both psychology and counterterrorism strategy are discussed, as well as possible ways to further study this theory empirically.