The ideology of jihad as propounded by the Islamic Resistance Movement of Palestine (H&dotbelow;amas) is the subject of this thesis. It examines what this organization specifically means by jihad. To properly ascertain this meaning, the ideology of jihad from two different time periods has been examined. In the first period, the "classical" age, the ideology of several jurists concerning jihad is introduced. It can be seen that during this period jihad was applicable to both the expansion and protection of Islamic social/political hegemony. In the second, or modern period, the interpretations of jihad by four thinkers commonly known as "Islamic revivalists" are presented. The definitions of jihad in this era were mostly responses of defending and liberating land from colonialism and imperialism; however, in some cases it was also understood as a means to implement the shari'a in Muslim societies. The jihad of H&dotbelow;amas can, for its part, be seen as an amalgam of these ideologies, in that it is largely connected to liberating the land of Palestine from Israeli rule, establishing an Islamic state, and continuing to assist in struggles in other areas beyond the borders of Palestine.

My thesis focuses on modern Palestine and the role of nationalism and fundamentalism in the construction of Palestinian national identity. H&dotbelow;amas provides a case study of Islamic fundamentalism in Palestine. The movement developed during the late 1980's as a reaction to the failures of the secular project. H&dotbelow;amas is a reflection of a region-wide phenomenon. It is not solely a reaction to modernity. Rather, H&dotbelow;amas is the result of specific condition that led to the politicization of Islam after the Intifad&dotbelow;a . Today the nationalist PLO and H&dotbelow;amas struggle to define Palestinian identity and to shape the emerging Palestinian state. / Palestinian national identity like that of other modern nations has been constructed. Nation-building or identity construction in Palestine can be divided into four historical stages. Each stage is characterized by overlapping and competing identities: Ottoman, Arab, religious, local and kinship. These identities are not mutually exclusive and often a combination of identities became prominent historically depending on the internal and external forces pressuring society. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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This thesis conceptualises Islamist radicalisation in Europe as a process of occupational choice. It follows the approach to individual radicalisation as incremental development (process) with the consideration of multi-level factors and dynamics. The analysis leading to this multi-phase process is grounded in data, comparative and comprehensive since it adopts a perspective of individual life-stories. It conceptualises radicalisation phases and the whole process not as something specific but as a concrete variation of a more general process. It further accounts for gradual change in time instead of sudden and radical points of change from ‘normality’ to radicalism, at the same time clearly defining the phases of involvement and the main categories and conditions impacting on the Islamist occupational choice. The theoretical framework integrates rational choice and framing theory elements within a general approach to the phenomenon of interest as social process. The methodology used is grounded theory and the data sources are in the majority primary data from fieldwork in Austria, France and Germany, along with secondary data and literature as directed by theoretical sampling. The structure of the thesis develops as follows: a discussion and clarification of the radicalism and ‘radicalisation’ concepts; a review and critique of the main contributions in the literature on Islamist radicalisation in Europe; the outline, rationale and application of the methodology; the emergence and dynamics of the Islamist radical occupational choice process; the analysis of occupational choice categories; and the emergence and impact of interpretative frameworks in shaping occupational choice categories.

Determining the conditions that lead to the formation of radical Islamist groups will help analysts and policymakers prioritize countries within sub-Saharan Africa that may need monitoring to prevent the onset of indigenous terrorism. This thesis attempts to produce knowledge toward that end by determining causal variables hypothesized to be associated with radical Islamist group formation through inductive analysis. A narrative describing the formation of a known Islamist movement in Nigeria is compared against a narrative describing the conditions in Zanzibar, where radical groups have yet to emerge given different structural conditions. The goal of the thesis is to try and generate an initial understanding of the underlying conditions that cause radical group formation to help tailor U.S. policy goals toward fighting radical Islamist group emergence through prevention.

This thesis examines intelligence strategies that law enforcement officials may use to combat transnational Islamic terrorism in the United States. Many of the concepts discussed in this thesis come from U.S. Intelligence Community approaches. Others are familiar to both intelligence and law enforcement professionals. The thesis focuses on Islamic terrorism, most notably promoted and conducted by al-Qa[alpha]eda, though a number of the techniques can apply to other terrorist threats. The religious foundations of Islamic terrorism and the milieu in which it flourishes provides both a strategic and tactical backdrop for what has been cast as a global jihadâ a violent, worldwide religious campaign with political objectives. The unique ethnic and religious characteristics also present specific challenges for law enforcement intelligence operations, most notably in collecting human intelligence. Processing collected threat intelligence and developing defensive plans require a broad, multi-layered strategy to be successful in meeting the challenges posed by a geographically pervasive terrorist threat. As this thesis argues, local jurisdictions must work in tandem with national-level organs to create an effective system that will identify and prevent potential terrorist operations in the United States.

There have been many deadly terrorist attacks which have taken place in the 21st Century. At the turn of the century the world was transfixed as two planes were hijacked and flown into the ‘Twin Towers.’ Many recent attacks have been carried out by Islamic Fundamentalist groups. In 2015, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Daesh and Al-Qaeda were responsible for 74% of all terrorist attacks which took place across the globe. It is widely recognised that aid is used to promote donor interests in areas such as curbing terrorism. This thesis is focused on identifying whether terrorist attacks which have been carried out by Islamic Fundamentalist groups has increased the amount of aid to Muslim countries. The research identifies that in the earliest parts of the 21st century Iraq and Afghanistan received large proportions of aid due to the ‘War on Terror.’ From 2010 onwards this trend shifts and other countries that have large Muslim populations have increasingly received vast proportions of aid. This trend has been attributed to the changing context and concerns such as the War in Syria and the migration crisis. The research also looks at whether isolated terrorist incidents influence aid allocations. I have examined trends related to UK aid before and after the 7/7 bombings. The evidence shows that countries which are defined by the US Department of State as ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ and ‘terrorist safe havens’ have received more aid after the 9/11 hijackings and then after the 7/7 bombings.

The EU has experienced several terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists since 2004 on its territory. Terrorism is threatening the fundamental rights that EU is based upon and has become not only a question of security but also a question of internal and external border security. This study seeks to examine the measures taken to fight terrorism by the EU and to see how terrorism has affected the security-, foreign-, and defence policies. The study is a theory consuming qualitative case study with both a descriptive and explanatory approach. The theoretical framework that the study is based on are theories about normative power, soft power and hard power but also the discussion about the external and internal security problem. The EU have taken several measures and policies in the fight against terrorism. The measures and policies are all influenced by the three theories in some way. The result of the study shows that EU has went from using only soft instruments and normative ways in the fight against terrorism towards harder instruments even if they still are using soft instruments in a harder way.

Thesis advisor: Paul T. Christensen / The terms “jihad” and “Islamic fundamentalism” appear to dominate world news today. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, people began to wonder if the world of Islam and the world of the West were diametrically opposed and thus doomed to collide. In this thesis I study the work of Samuel Huntington, the leading theorist on the clash between Islam and the West, and his critics. Through case studies of Algeria, Indonesia and Lebanon, all predominantly Muslim countries, I argue that there is not a fundamental clash between these cultures. The conflict that is occurring today is a result of factors such as US foreign policy decisions, and not an existential culture clash. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.