Lexington Books
Pages: 274
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9
978-1-4985-6442-7 • Hardback • November 2018 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
978-1-4985-6444-1 • Paperback • January 2022 • $41.99 • (£35.00)
978-1-4985-6443-4 • eBook • November 2018 • $39.50 • (£30.00)
Samory Rashid is professor of political science at Indiana State University.
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Terrorism and Africa
Muslim Struggle (jihad) and Africans
Politics of Muslim Struggle (jihad) and Africans
Cases: Muslim Struggle and Africans
Cases: Terrorism and Africans
Flight (hijra) to the Americas
Islamism, Africans and the West
Conclusions
Selected Bibliography
Index
The book is as much a must-read for those interested in the complexities of African security challenges as it is for those curious or concerned about global terrorism and the notorious WOT. Particularly, its rich and in-depth historical analyses of the Islamist challenge is arguably unmatched, while its audacity to tackle this highly politicized yet timely and important subject is commendable.
— African Studies Quarterly
"The importance of 21st century Africa as ground for staging terror has been seriously under-estimated by the West, argues Samory Rashid. In this timely and provocative book, he argues that effective intervention demands a deeper appreciation of the interplay of politics, faith, and violence on this routinely marginalized continent. The Islamist Challenge and Africa is an excellent place to begin this task.” -Jean and John Comaroff, Harvard University— Jean Comaroff
Samory Rashid has provided, for the first time, a study of Islamist challenges, military, social and intellectual, across the African continent. He is weary of the preoccupation with ISIS in Syria and Iraq, which have dominated the attention on contemporary terrorism, alert to the neglect and condescension which scholars and policy makers have long shown to the African continent, and acutely aware of the large and fast-growing population of Africa and its Muslim societies. He explores the multiple challenges in Africa – a vast continent and potential theater of many threats and weaker states, complicated by the fall of the Qaddafi regime in Libya and the lethal weapons which became available. He goes far beyond the better-known examples of Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabab in Somalia to document a whole range of threats which have gained the attention of American and European military forces in the last two decades. His volume will be essential to policy makers, intelligence and military experts, students and faculty in North America and, indeed, the world.
— David Robinson, Michigan State University
Samory Rashid provides a highly informative and compelling reason for greater US involvement in Africa—clearly not less--just as the Defense Department prepares to close US military posts in Niger, Tunisia, Cameroon, Libya and Kenya and draw down Special Operations units in the North Africa and its southern border states while diminishing alliances across Africa. Clearly, The Islamist Challenge is a must-read' not only for the general public but especially for United States' foreign and military policy makers.
— Marilyn E. Lashley, Professor Emerita, Howard University