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Body Count: The War on Terror and Civilian Deaths in Iraq
by Lily HamourtziadouLily Hamourtziadou’s investigation into civilian victims during the conflicts that followed the US-led coalition’s 2003 invasion of Iraq provides important new perspectives on the human cost of the War on Terror. From early fighting to the withdrawal and return of coalition troops, the Arab Spring and the rise of ISIS, the book explores the scale and causes of deaths and places them in the contexts of power struggles, US foreign policy and radicalisation. Casting fresh light on not just the conflict but international geopolitics and the history of Iraq, it constructs a unique and insightful human security approach to war.
Body Count: The War on Terror and Civilian Deaths in Iraq
by Lily HamourtziadouLily Hamourtziadou’s investigation into civilian victims during the conflicts that followed the US-led coalition’s 2003 invasion of Iraq provides important new perspectives on the human cost of the War on Terror. From early fighting to the withdrawal and return of coalition troops, the Arab Spring and the rise of ISIS, the book explores the scale and causes of deaths and places them in the contexts of power struggles, US foreign policy and radicalisation. Casting fresh light on not just the conflict but international geopolitics and the history of Iraq, it constructs a unique and insightful human security approach to war.
The Body Economic: Eight experiments in economic recovery, from Iceland to Greece
by David Stuckler Sanjay BasuThe global financial crisis has had a seismic impact upon the wealth of nations. But we have little sense of how it affects one of the most fundamental issues of all: our physical and mental health.This highly significant new book, based on the authors' own groundbreaking research, looks at the daily lives of people affected by financial crisis, from the Great Depression of the 1930s, to post-communist Russia, to the US foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s. Why, it asks, did Sweden experience a fall in suicides during its banking crisis? What triggered a mosquito-borne epidemic in California in 2007? What caused 10 million Russian men to 'disappear' in the 1990s? Why is Greece experiencing rocketing HIV rates? And how did the health of Americans actually improve during the catastrophic crisis of the 1930s? The conclusions it draws are both surprising and compelling: remarkably, when faced with similar crises, the health of some societies - like Iceland - improves, while that of others, such as Greece, deteriorates. Even amid the worst economic disasters, negative public health effects are not inevitable: it's how communities respond to challenges of debt and market turmoil that counts. The Body Economic puts forward a radical proposition. Austerity, it argues, is seriously bad for your health. We can prevent financial crises from becoming epidemics, but to do so, we must acknowledge what the hard data tells us: that, throughout history, there is a causal link between the strength of a community's health and its social protection systems. Now and for generations to come, our commitment to the building of fairer, more equal societies will determine the health of our body economic.
Body Of Secrets: Anatomy Of The Ultra-secret National Security Agency
by James BamfordThe NSA is the largest, most secretive and most powerful intelligence agency in the world. With a staff of 38,000 people, it dwarfs the CIA in budget, manpower and influence. Recent headlines have linked it to economic espionage throughout Europe and to the ongoing hunt for the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. James Bamford first penetrated the wall of silence surrounding the NSA in 1982, with the much-talked-about US bestseller THE PUZZLE PALACE. In BODY OF SECRETS he offers shocking new details about the inner workings of the agency, gathered through unique access to thousands of internal documents and interviews with current and former officials. Unveiling extremely sensitive information for the first time, Bamford exposes the role the NSA played in numerous Soviet bloc Cold War conflicts and discusses its undercover involvement in the Vietnam War. His investigation into the NSA's technological advances during the last 15 years brings to light a network of global surveillance ranging from on-line listening posts to sophisticated intelligence-gathering satellites. In a hard-hitting conclusion, he warns the NSA is a double-edged sword: while its worldwide eavesdropping activities offer the potential for tracking down terrorists and uncovering nuclear weapons deals, it also has the capacity to listen in on global personal communications.
The Body Politic: Foundings, Citizenship, and Difference in the American Political Imagination
by Catherine A. HollandThis work advances an original thesis that challenges the dominant schools of thought concerning the liberal tradition in the US.
The Body Politic: Foundings, Citizenship, and Difference in the American Political Imagination
by Catherine A. HollandThis work advances an original thesis that challenges the dominant schools of thought concerning the liberal tradition in the US.
The Body Politic (Penguin Little Black Classics)
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau'No true Democracy has ever existed, nor ever will exist.'In this selection from The Social Contract, Rousseau asserts that a state's only legitimate political authority comes from its people.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
Body/Politics: Studies in Reproduction, Production, and (Re)Construction
by Thomas ShevoryNegotiating the terrain between techno-optimism and eco-pessimism, this work establishes the political connections between technologies of the body, property, and the environment. Specific technologies of the body, such as surrogacy and in vitro fertilization, are examined in relation to their political and legal constructions. Next, Shevory analyzes private property as an evolving historical concept that implicates environmental and biological transformations with particular attention given to biotechnology cases. He then considers the body's appearance and its alterations through plastic surgery, dieting, or piercing as political constructions.A theoretical overview specifies technoprogressivist (liberal) and technophobic traditions, especially as they have evolved in the United States during the second half of the 20th-century. Drawing upon critical and feminist theories, Shevory specifies a body politics that negotiates the terrain between these two traditions. Body technologies and markets, he argues, interact to consolidate and reinforce dominant systems of power, while at the same time resisting and sometimes subverting them. Technology is often a factor in the fragmentation of evolving political ideological discourses on the left and right; however, the resulting instabilities create the potential for both the expansion of global capital and its subversion via democratic interventions.
Body Politics in Development: Critical Debates in Gender and Development
by Wendy HarcourtBody Politics in Development sets out to define body politics as a key political and mobilizing force for human rights in the last two decades. This passionate and engaging book reveals how once-tabooed issues, such as rape, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive rights, have emerged into the public arena as critical grounds of contention and struggle.Engaging in the latest feminist thinking and action, the book describes the struggles around body politics for people living in economic and socially vulnerable communities and covers a broad range of gender and development issues, including fundamentalism, sexualities and new technologies, from diverse viewpoints. The book's originality comes through the author's rich experience and engagement in feminist activism and global body politics and was winner of the 2010 FWSA Book Prize.
Body Politics in Development: Critical Debates in Gender and Development
by Wendy HarcourtBody Politics in Development sets out to define body politics as a key political and mobilizing force for human rights in the last two decades. This passionate and engaging book reveals how once-tabooed issues, such as rape, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive rights, have emerged into the public arena as critical grounds of contention and struggle.Engaging in the latest feminist thinking and action, the book describes the struggles around body politics for people living in economic and socially vulnerable communities and covers a broad range of gender and development issues, including fundamentalism, sexualities and new technologies, from diverse viewpoints. The book's originality comes through the author's rich experience and engagement in feminist activism and global body politics and was winner of the 2010 FWSA Book Prize.
The Body Productive: Rethinking Capitalism, Work and the Body
by Steffan Blayney, Joey Hornsby and Savannah WhaleyThe Body Productive represents a new and radical approach to the relationships between capitalism, work and the body. Self-evident, natural, biological - this is how we think of the body on an everyday basis. However, this supposedly most direct aspect of our being may in fact be a primary site of socio-economic mediation and ideological reproduction. How are bodies produced under capitalism? How, in turn, does capitalism make bodies productive? How is the body (and knowledge of the body) shaped by demands of production, consumption and exchange, and how can these logics be resisted, challenged and overcome?These are the questions at the heart of The Body Productive, a collection of original, radical new approaches to the relationships between capitalism, work and the body from an international group of scholars and activists. Taking inspiration from the neglected theoretical work of François Guéry and Didier Deleule, and bridging Marxist and Foucauldian traditions, this book rethinks the relationships between the biological and the social; the body and the mind; power and knowledge; discipline and control.
The Body Productive: Rethinking Capitalism, Work and the Body
The Body Productive represents a new and radical approach to the relationships between capitalism, work and the body. Self-evident, natural, biological - this is how we think of the body on an everyday basis. However, this supposedly most direct aspect of our being may in fact be a primary site of socio-economic mediation and ideological reproduction. How are bodies produced under capitalism? How, in turn, does capitalism make bodies productive? How is the body (and knowledge of the body) shaped by demands of production, consumption and exchange, and how can these logics be resisted, challenged and overcome?These are the questions at the heart of The Body Productive, a collection of original, radical new approaches to the relationships between capitalism, work and the body from an international group of scholars and activists. Taking inspiration from the neglected theoretical work of François Guéry and Didier Deleule, and bridging Marxist and Foucauldian traditions, this book rethinks the relationships between the biological and the social; the body and the mind; power and knowledge; discipline and control.
Body/State (Gender in a Global/Local World)
by Angus Cameron, Jen Dickinson, Nicola SmithBody/State brings together original essays addressing various aspects of the evolving interaction between bodies and states. While each essay has different empirical and/or theoretical focus, authors consider a number of overlapping themes to appreciate the state's engagement with, and concern about, bodies. Divided into five parts, the first part, 'Bodies Modified and Divided' considers how the production, regulation, policing and maintenance of borders (physical, social, sexual, political, religious, etc.) are used to enable or constrain the physical (re)shaping of the body. Part two, 'Capital Bodies', extends the state's concern with the flows of bodies that make up the nation to consider how they are enrolled in the complex structures of capitalist exchange that form the basis for maintaining and contesting a set of relationships between states and markets. Part three, 'Deviance and Resistance', examines both how states seek to discipline ’non-normal’ bodies and appreciates the capacity of changes in the socio-cultural meaning and nature of bodies to resist and/or escape states. Part four, ’Sovereignty and Surveillance’, develops themes of deviancy and resistance by considering the impact of new technologies both on the intimate regulatory reach of states into and across bodies and on the nature of embodiment itself. Finally, Part five, ’The Body Virtual’, examines the impact of new technologies and online spaces both on the intimate regulatory reach of states into and across bodies and on the nature of embodiment itself. A varied collection of essays that address important and complex topics in a readable and creative way.
Body/State (Gender in a Global/Local World)
by Angus Cameron Jen Dickinson Nicola SmithBody/State brings together original essays addressing various aspects of the evolving interaction between bodies and states. While each essay has different empirical and/or theoretical focus, authors consider a number of overlapping themes to appreciate the state's engagement with, and concern about, bodies. Divided into five parts, the first part, 'Bodies Modified and Divided' considers how the production, regulation, policing and maintenance of borders (physical, social, sexual, political, religious, etc.) are used to enable or constrain the physical (re)shaping of the body. Part two, 'Capital Bodies', extends the state's concern with the flows of bodies that make up the nation to consider how they are enrolled in the complex structures of capitalist exchange that form the basis for maintaining and contesting a set of relationships between states and markets. Part three, 'Deviance and Resistance', examines both how states seek to discipline ’non-normal’ bodies and appreciates the capacity of changes in the socio-cultural meaning and nature of bodies to resist and/or escape states. Part four, ’Sovereignty and Surveillance’, develops themes of deviancy and resistance by considering the impact of new technologies both on the intimate regulatory reach of states into and across bodies and on the nature of embodiment itself. Finally, Part five, ’The Body Virtual’, examines the impact of new technologies and online spaces both on the intimate regulatory reach of states into and across bodies and on the nature of embodiment itself. A varied collection of essays that address important and complex topics in a readable and creative way.
The Bodyguard
by Lee SansumThis is the story of the real bodyguard, Lee Sansum, ex-Royal Military Policeman, martial arts champion, and expert in close protection. Part of Mohamed and Dodi Al-Fayed's protection team, Lee had to guard the most famous woman in the world, Princess Diana. He formed a close bond with Diana and the young princes, particularly Harry, and it was only by a stroke of luck that he was not in the car the night Diana died. That night proved to be the turning point in his own life.Over the course of his career, Lee has worked with the rich and famous, such as Hollywood stars Tom & Nicole, Pele and Sylvester Stallone, and he gives a candid account of what it's like to work in a job where lives are literally at stake.Growing up in a tough part of Greater Manchester, Lee learnt the hard way that to survive you need to stand up to bullies and be harder than your opponent. A career in the Royal Military Police took him to the "Bandit Country" of South Armagh, where he pulled an AWOL squaddie out of a honey trap moments before an IRA active service unit arrived to kill him. He worked undercover in Northern Ireland and joined the SIB, the Army's own internal affairs unit, before entering the world of private security, operating in the world's hotspots, such as Libya and the breakaway state of Somaliland.Lee's story is one of quiet strength, of how reading a situation is invaluable to getting out of trouble. It is one of achieving personal goals and overcoming trauma through the help of his wife, Kate, and through his love of martial arts. It is also a fitting tribute to one of the outstanding figures of our age.
The Boer War: A History
by Denis Judd Keith SurridgeThe Boer War of 1899-1902 was an epic of heroism and bungling, cunning and barbarism with an extraordinary cast of characters - including Churchill, Rhodes, Conan Doyle, Smuts, Kipling, Gandhi, Kruger and Kitchener. The war revealed the ineptitude of the British military and unexpectedly exposed the corrupt underside of imperialism - in the establishment of the first concentration camps, the shooting of Boer prisoners-of-war and the embezzlement of military supplies by British officers. This acclaimed book provides a complete history of the Boer War - from the first signs of unrest to the eventual peace. In the process, it debunks several of the myths which have grown up around the conflict and explores the deadly legacy it left for southern Africa.
Bog-Standard Britain: How Mediocrity Ruined This Great Nation
by Quentin LettsNo one would attack equality, would they? Quentin Letts just might. Not the notion of equality itself but the way it has become an industry for lobbyists, class warriors and New Labour's ageing Trots.Egalitarianism is a mania for today's policymakers and the soupy-brained halfwits we contrive to elect to public office. Appalled by free thinking, these equality junkies want to crush all individualism in our nation of once indignant eccentrics.Equality has been defiled by the ethnic grievance gang, by the harpies of feminist orthodoxy, by those risk-averse jackboots of town-hall bureaucracy with their quotas and creeds. Fair damsel Liberty has been whored by the best practice brigade, by the proceduralists of multinational corporatism in their company ties, by the glottal-stopping, municipal bores who insist that everyone must have prizes and that no culture can be dominant.Tilters against convention are assailed for their 'inappropriate' behaviour. Supporters of grammar schools are 'snobs'. Social nuance, once a vital lure to self-improvement, is deemed 'unacceptable'.Twenty-first century Britain's political cadre is so paralysed by class paranoia that it stops us attaining the best in schools, manners, language, fashion, popular culture. Elitism is a dirty word. The BBC stamps out the Queen's English because it is not 'accessible'. Celebrity morons are cultural pin-ups. Thick rools, OK. The glottal-stopping oikishness of our urban streets can be linked to modern equality's refusal to deplore. The prattishness of Jonathan Ross arises from a mad insistence that vulgarity is valid.Still think equality is such a great thing? You might not after reading this urgent, exasperated, witheringly funny book.Praise for 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain:'[Quentin Letts] discharges his duty with flair and tracer precision...an angry book, beautifully written.' The Spectator
Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency
by Virginia ComolliNorthern and central Nigeria are engulfed in a violent insurgency campaign waged by Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda'awati w'al Jihad, a.k.a. 'Boko Haram', and more recently, its splinter group 'Ansaru'. From its inception an inward-looking, almost parochial, movement, Boko Haram, and even more so Ansaru, have now showed clear signs of regionalization, expanding their operations across West Africa and forging links with al-Qaeda affiliated groups. Boko Haram's stated aim is to Islamize Africa's most populous country but, like earlier Nigerian Islamist groups, of which there is a long tradition in the Sahel, the discontent prompting young Nigerians and other young West African Muslims to join the insurgency is rooted in more than just religious orthodoxy and cannot be disentangled from their economic, social and political marginalization. In spite of talks about dialogue and amnesty for those prepared to renounce violence, the Federal Government's response has been a militarized one, resulting in the largest deployment of the Nigerian armed forces since the end of the Civil War. But what is the real magnitude of the threat? What can foreign partners do to support Abuja? How effective is the current government's strategy in tackling the insurgency? And, more importantly, are the root causes of the insurgency being addressed and the foundations for a durable peace being established?
Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency
by Virginia ComolliNorthern and central Nigeria are engulfed in a violent insurgency campaign waged by Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda'awati w'al Jihad, a.k.a. 'Boko Haram', and more recently, its splinter group 'Ansaru'. From its inception an inward-looking, almost parochial, movement, Boko Haram, and even more so Ansaru, have now showed clear signs of regionalization, expanding their operations across West Africa and forging links with al-Qaeda affiliated groups. Boko Haram's stated aim is to Islamize Africa's most populous country but, like earlier Nigerian Islamist groups, of which there is a long tradition in the Sahel, the discontent prompting young Nigerians and other young West African Muslims to join the insurgency is rooted in more than just religious orthodoxy and cannot be disentangled from their economic, social and political marginalization. In spite of talks about dialogue and amnesty for those prepared to renounce violence, the Federal Government's response has been a militarized one, resulting in the largest deployment of the Nigerian armed forces since the end of the Civil War. But what is the real magnitude of the threat? What can foreign partners do to support Abuja? How effective is the current government's strategy in tackling the insurgency? And, more importantly, are the root causes of the insurgency being addressed and the foundations for a durable peace being established?
Boko Haram: The Socio-Economic Drivers (SpringerBriefs in Political Science)
by Ojochenemi J. David Lucky E. Asuelime Hakeem OnapajoThis book investigates the socio-economic determinants of the emergence and persistence of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. Since 2009, Boko Haram continues to capture mainstream news headlines, as well as the imagination of aspiring young Salafi-jihadists around the world who support the notion of a radical Islamist socio-political system. By providing an essential overview of the literature on Boko Haram and bridging research and current events, the authors cover a broad spectrum of topics and suggest relevant policies for addressing the problem of Boko Haram terrorism. While Boko Haram’s motivations are ostensibly religious, the primary focus is on socio-economic inequality as one of the main factors that predispose the disillusioned, poverty-driven and jobless populace in the northern regions of Nigeria to take up arms against the state. The insights presented in this book will help researchers and policy-makers alike to understand the emergence of locally focused terrorist groups and insurgencies.
Boko Haram: Security Considerations and the Rise of an Insurgency
by Ona EkhomuBoko Haram analyzes the activities and atrocities of Nigeria’s Jihadi terrorist group, Boko Haram, in the context of global religious fundamentalism and extremism. The book traces the early beginnings of the religious sect, the conversion of its leader to radical Islam in 2002, and the group’s campaign of violence beginning in 2009 and continuing to the present. The group’s attacks against a variety of targets are examined in detail as are their general tactics and strategies. The Nigerian government response is also examined in order to provide critical lessons to counterterrorism planners, policy and government officials, and scholars. The initial military response was hampered by capability and legislative constraints including a lack of arms and ammunition, a lack of modern counterterrorism equipment, training gaps, leadership issues, intelligence gaps, politicization of the conflict, and limited support to the Nigerian military by the international community. Boko Haram looks at the work that has been done thus far, and what work needs to continue, to make gains to combat, marginalize, and ultimately defeat Boko Haram and resolve the conflict facing Nigeria. Key features: Outlines the history of Boko Haram and its emergence in Nigeria Provides the latest developments on fundamentalism in Nigeria, the growth of Boko Haram and the government response Focuses on the attacks, attack methodology and targeting of Boko Haram, addressing best-practice countermeasures Examines Boko Haram’s ties to other Islamist groups including ISIL/ISIS and others Details the importance for international cooperation in responding to Boko Haram’s activities and threats. About the Author: Dr. Ona Ekhomu, CFE, CPP, CSP, PCI, CPOI was born in Irrua, Nigeria. He holds the PhD from University of Pittsburgh. A policy analyst and security expert, Ekhomu is Chairman Trans-World Security Systems Ltd. and Chairman School of Management and Security (Lagos, Nigeria). President of Trans-World Security Systems Inc. of Chicago, Illinois, USA, Ekhomu is also a lecturer in the Sociology Department of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria; Africa Representative of the International Foundation for Protection Officers; and former Regional Vice-President (West and Central Africa) of ASIS International. Ekhomu is author of Kidnap: Face to Face with Death (2014) and Effective Personal & Corporate Security (2009).
Boko Haram: Security Considerations and the Rise of an Insurgency
by Ona EkhomuBoko Haram analyzes the activities and atrocities of Nigeria’s Jihadi terrorist group, Boko Haram, in the context of global religious fundamentalism and extremism. The book traces the early beginnings of the religious sect, the conversion of its leader to radical Islam in 2002, and the group’s campaign of violence beginning in 2009 and continuing to the present. The group’s attacks against a variety of targets are examined in detail as are their general tactics and strategies. The Nigerian government response is also examined in order to provide critical lessons to counterterrorism planners, policy and government officials, and scholars. The initial military response was hampered by capability and legislative constraints including a lack of arms and ammunition, a lack of modern counterterrorism equipment, training gaps, leadership issues, intelligence gaps, politicization of the conflict, and limited support to the Nigerian military by the international community. Boko Haram looks at the work that has been done thus far, and what work needs to continue, to make gains to combat, marginalize, and ultimately defeat Boko Haram and resolve the conflict facing Nigeria. Key features: Outlines the history of Boko Haram and its emergence in Nigeria Provides the latest developments on fundamentalism in Nigeria, the growth of Boko Haram and the government response Focuses on the attacks, attack methodology and targeting of Boko Haram, addressing best-practice countermeasures Examines Boko Haram’s ties to other Islamist groups including ISIL/ISIS and others Details the importance for international cooperation in responding to Boko Haram’s activities and threats. About the Author: Dr. Ona Ekhomu, CFE, CPP, CSP, PCI, CPOI was born in Irrua, Nigeria. He holds the PhD from University of Pittsburgh. A policy analyst and security expert, Ekhomu is Chairman Trans-World Security Systems Ltd. and Chairman School of Management and Security (Lagos, Nigeria). President of Trans-World Security Systems Inc. of Chicago, Illinois, USA, Ekhomu is also a lecturer in the Sociology Department of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria; Africa Representative of the International Foundation for Protection Officers; and former Regional Vice-President (West and Central Africa) of ASIS International. Ekhomu is author of Kidnap: Face to Face with Death (2014) and Effective Personal & Corporate Security (2009).
Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria's Unholy War
by Mike SmithAn insurgency in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has left thousands dead, shaken Africa's biggest country and worried the world. Yet it remains a mysterious – almost unknowable – organisation. ˜ rough exhaustive on-the-ground reporting, Mike Smith takes readers inside the con° ict and provides the ÿ rst in-depth account of the violence and unrest. He traces Boko Haram from its beginnings as a small Islamist sect in Nigeria's remote north-east, led by a baby-faced but charismatic preacher, to its transformation into a hydra-headed entity, deploying suicide bombers and abducting schoolgirls.Much of the book is told through the eyes of Nigerians who have found themselves caught between frightening insurgents and security forces accused of horrifying brutality. It includes the voices of a forgotten police o? cer left paralysed by an attack, women whose husbands have been murdered and a sword-wielding vigilante using charms to fend o? insurgent bullets. It journeys through the sleaze and corruption that has robbed Africa's biggest oil producer of its potential, making it such fertile ground for extremism. Along the way it questions whether there can be any end to the violence and the ways in which this might be achieved. Interspersed with history, this book delves into the roots of this unholy war being waged by a virtually unknown organisation, which is set to shape the destiny of Africa's biggest economy and most populous state – and perhaps aff ect the future of Africa.
Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics #65)
by Alexander ThurstonA comprehensive history of one of the world's deadliest jihadist groupsBoko Haram is one of the world’s deadliest jihadist groups. It has killed more than twenty thousand people and displaced more than two million in a campaign of terror that began in Nigeria but has since spread to Chad, Niger, and Cameroon as well. This is the first book to tell the full story of this West African affiliate of the Islamic State, from its beginnings in the early 2000s to its most infamous violence, including the 2014 kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls.Drawing on sources in Arabic and Hausa, rare documents, propaganda videos, press reports, and interviews with experts in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger, Alexander Thurston sheds new light on Boko Haram’s development. He shows that the group, far from being a simple or static terrorist organization, has evolved in its worldview and ideology in reaction to events. Chief among these has been Boko Haram’s escalating war with the Nigerian state and civilian vigilantes.The book closely examines both the behavior and beliefs that are the keys to understanding Boko Haram. Putting the group’s violence in the context of the complex religious and political environment of Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, the book examines how Boko Haram relates to states, politicians, Salafis, Sufis, Muslim civilians, and Christians. It also probes Boko Haram’s international connections, including its loose former ties to al-Qaida and its 2015 pledge of allegiance to ISIS.An in-depth account of a group that is menacing Africa’s most populous and richest country, the book also illuminates the dynamics of civil war in Africa and jihadist movements in other parts of the world.
Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics #65)
by Alexander ThurstonA comprehensive history of one of the world's deadliest jihadist groupsBoko Haram is one of the world’s deadliest jihadist groups. It has killed more than twenty thousand people and displaced more than two million in a campaign of terror that began in Nigeria but has since spread to Chad, Niger, and Cameroon as well. This is the first book to tell the full story of this West African affiliate of the Islamic State, from its beginnings in the early 2000s to its most infamous violence, including the 2014 kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls.Drawing on sources in Arabic and Hausa, rare documents, propaganda videos, press reports, and interviews with experts in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger, Alexander Thurston sheds new light on Boko Haram’s development. He shows that the group, far from being a simple or static terrorist organization, has evolved in its worldview and ideology in reaction to events. Chief among these has been Boko Haram’s escalating war with the Nigerian state and civilian vigilantes.The book closely examines both the behavior and beliefs that are the keys to understanding Boko Haram. Putting the group’s violence in the context of the complex religious and political environment of Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, the book examines how Boko Haram relates to states, politicians, Salafis, Sufis, Muslim civilians, and Christians. It also probes Boko Haram’s international connections, including its loose former ties to al-Qaida and its 2015 pledge of allegiance to ISIS.An in-depth account of a group that is menacing Africa’s most populous and richest country, the book also illuminates the dynamics of civil war in Africa and jihadist movements in other parts of the world.