The Three Phases of Jihadism
... the development of the Islamization of politics, and the impact of this development on Saudi Arabia and then later Iran, through three stages of Jihadism. This analysis is taken from an interview with Dr. Kepel. Stages of Jihadism The first stage of Jihadism, present from 1979 to 1997, was centered around both a jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan and the possibility for Sunni groups to contain Iranian influence at the time. It was effective against Russia in Afghanistan, but this phase was not very successful elsewhere and failed in Algeria, Chechnya, and Egypt. Phase one was characterized by a “nearby” enemy, which jihadist groups in their earliest form of organization fought against hoping ...