Date: 2020
Type: Article
The Al Qaeda-Islamic state rivalry : competition yes, but no competitive escalation
Terrorism and political violence, 2020, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 20-37
HAMMING, Tore Refslund, The Al Qaeda-Islamic state rivalry : competition yes, but no competitive escalation, Terrorism and political violence, 2020, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 20-37
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70169
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
On June 29, 2014, the Islamic State emerged and declared the establishment of its caliphate. The declaration was a direct challenge to other Sunni Jihadi groups including Al Qaeda and an attempt to become the leading Jihadi group around. The rivalry that evolved within Sunni Jihadism, and particularly between Al Qaeda and its renegade affiliate the Islamic State, entailed a hitherto unseen competitive environment within the Jihadi field. Interestingly, the increased competition did not lead to a dynamic of competitive escalation and mutual radicalization of behaviour. Theory tells us to expect competitive escalation, or outbidding, in such contexts, but despite the initial success of the Islamic State's brutality and offensive conquest in Syria and Iraq, Al Qaeda did not "play along" and instead pursued a different path. The reason for this absence of competitive escalation, this paper argues, is to be found in a pre-conflict methodological re-orientation within Al Qaeda and in the pacifying role played by influential Al Qaeda-affiliated ideologues.
Additional information:
First published online: 02 January 2020
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70169
Full-text via DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2017.1342634
ISSN: 0954-6553; 1556-1836
Publisher: Routledge
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