Publication

This paper examines three reinforcing factors that the author contends underlie the persistence of the appeal of the so-called Islamic State in the North Africa, the Middle East and beyond. These include 1) the effects of several decades of determined proselytizing of the Wahhabi tradition by Saudi Arabia; 2) the level of socioeconomic marginalization across North Africa and the Middle East; and 3) the narrative that Islam is under attack from the West. The author also argues that tackling these long-term drivers of radicalization is a far more sustainable policy option than the foreign and sectarian military intervention.