libyatodayMarina Eleftheriadou (Ph.D)
(Research Associate/ Senior Editor, Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East & Islamic Studies (CEMMIS)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 21 April 2015

The power struggle within the salafi-jihadist movement continues to stir the 'jihadsphere'. Al-Baghdadi's open challenge to the salafi-jihadi status quo peaked with his June 2014 claim to the Caliphate, which further gnawed the failing power of al-Qaeda that until recently was the dominant power in the salafi-jihadi sub-system. ISIS' recent attempts towards 'remaining and expanding' beyond the Syria-Iraq front, as its strategic design dictates, constitute a further escalation of the intra-jihadi power struggle that directly challenges al-Qaeda's unipolar claim to jihadi branding and franchise. The flurry of declarations of support and bay'ah (to al-Zawahiri or al-Baghdadi) has been dichotomizing the salafi-jihadi movement between loyal to al-Qaeda forces and the 'defectors' to the self-proclaimed Islamic State; thus, sealing the increasing bipolarity in the jihadi sub-system...Read more

We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.