2010/11/25 by Lorenzo Vidino, Raffaello Pantucci, Evan F. Kohlmann · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #African history and culture analysis #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories #Religion, Society, and Development #Somali #Militant #Ideology #Nationalism #Political science #French horn #Political economy #Ethnic conflict #Jihadism #Interpretation (philosophy) #Ethnic group #Gender studies #Sociology #Law #Politics #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1080/19392206.2010.533071
openalex publication_date 2010/11/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
. Sacralization of conflict is the process through which religion, or, in most cases, a militant interpretation of it, evolves from being an irrelevant or secondary factor at the onset of a conflict to shaping the views, actions, and aims of one or more of the conflict's key actors. The article outlines how this phenomenon has taken place in Somalia over the past twenty years by looking at two related phenomena: (1) the rise to prominence of al Shabaab, a group that, unlike its predecessors, follows a global jihadist ideology, and (2) the arrival of foreign fighters, particularly from Western countries, attracted more by global jihadist ideology than ethnic ties or nationalist sentiments.