Terrorism in Africa: The Nexus of the Local and the Global

Terrorism is a complex phenomenon that involves diverse groups with different origins and motives all over the world. Owing, among other things, to processes of globalization, radical Islam has become a common denominator for a myriad of extremist organizations that have come to pursue local agendas under the banners of al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other transnational terrorist networks. In Africa, with its unrivaled ethnic and cultural diversity, peculiar socioeconomic and political circumstances, daunting demographic and environmental challenges, the sources of discontent and hatred that breed terrorism are abound; consequently, radicalization is driven predominantly by local factors - injustice, marginalization, underrepresentation, oppression, the lack of economic opportunities, etc. - yet it is the global aspects of the phenomenon that steal the spotlight at the international scene, guide counter-terrorism policymaking, which ultimately leads to the failure to extinguish or even contain the threat of terrorism on the continent. Modern terrorism in Africa forms at the nexus of the global and the local and thus should be confronted and countered as a ‘glocal’ phenomenon, the responsibility for which lies both with the host nation and world powers, and the eradication of which requires addressing inequalities and injustices just as much as strengthening counter-terrorism capacity.