Al Qaeda and the Landscapes of the Jihad

Lauren Journet

Professor Shirk

Global Politics of Terrorism

13 April 2018

Al Qaeda and the Landscapes of the Jihad

The first chapter of the reading titled Landscapes of the Jihad by Faisal Devji offered many critical analyses of Al Qaeda. The author opens by discussing the location of the two lands- America and Afghanistan. Devji contemplates proximity, saying that America felt closer to member of Al Qaeda than Afghanistan seemed to American. He credits this belief to the globalization of al Qaeda (Devji 1). But the jihadist movement was not also as globalized as it had been. The physical distance between America and Afghanistan did not matter in the terms of globalization, as Al Qaeda reach was limitless due to determination (Devji 1). In this way, the members were truly more globalized than Americans, for America was a pinpoint on every person’s map. But the globalization has reaches further than the members of the two countries, having some overlap in the political spectrum.

The author writes, “This jihad is global… because it is too weak to participate in such a politics of control” (Devji 1-2). He draws a parallel between the political circumstances of the Jihad to the political circumstance of Palestine. The international terror as a result of the Palestinian cause and the legitimization of Palestine after such effects were two likely comparisons. (Devji 3). But Devji also contrasts the jihadist movement from past movements, stating that today’s jihad is different due to the increase of “ordinariness of such excesses, whose global effects exist outside the politics of control, and which are detached from its traditional categories, like that of statehood” (Devji 3). This has made the jihad’s actions transfer from political means to ethical means, as they have more control over lasting effects (Devji 3-4).

Following the ethical ramifications of the jihad, Devji continues his discussion during Chapter One by bringing Osama bin Laden’s speculations about the September 11th attacks to light. During an interview with a Pakistani newspaper the week after the attacks, Osama bin Laden was quoted saying that the people of the United States of America need to find the perpetrators of the attack within its own country. More or less, Osama bin Laden was hinting at the fact that members of the United States government and country in general could be held accountable for the attacks (Devji 5). Moreover, Osama bin Laden spoke on the the United States narcotic and drug issues, aligning this with the attacks in September. The jihad refused to claim full political responsibility for their actions. Osama bin Laden’s words, whether true or false, speak on the terms of the global effects ad ramifications of the September 11 attacks.

To conclude his first chapter of Landscapes of the Jihad, Faisal Devji speaks on the jihadist movement concerning the bombers and hijackers. He states that the country views these people as martyrs to their cause, as they “organize people only around common beliefs or practices” (Devji 19). The author continues by describing the psychological profiles of those who connect through the jihad movement, stating that the real parallel and connection derives from “the contingency of effects” (Devji 19). This too offers a great contribution to the globalization of the jihadist movement and of Al Qaeda as a whole.

Works Cited

Devji, Faisal. Landscapes of the Jihad. Cornell University Press, pp. 1-33.