Why Salafi-Jihadist Terrorist Groups Pledge Allegiance to Al Qaeda or Isis?

• In Event: Poster Session 2

Abstract

No one predicted that Salafi-jihadist groups would mushroom after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York or that they would pose the biggest threat to global security. Today, no country is immune from attacks by these jihadist groups. These groups are not only active in conflict zones but also have the capacity to plot attacks in the Western world through self-radicalized individuals or homegrown extremists. In recent years, the trend has been for ji- hadist groups to align themselves with large terrorist organizations, usually Al Qaeda (AQ) or ISIS, because these organizations have been able to survive destructive military campaigns against them by the world’s superpowers. Using GRID data, the purpose of this poster is to analyze when and why jihadist groups declare loyalty to AQ or ISIS and to show that when jihadist groups undergo organizational fragmentation, restructuring, or dissolution following disruptive events, they tend to pledge allegiance to one of these two organizations as a survival strategy.

Author

• Celil Tugrulhan Teber, American University