Multiple Shapes of a Chamaleonic Terrorism
The ever-changing geopolitical and security context marked by the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing political and social instability in the Sahel connected also to climate change, the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, and the institutional weakness of many African countries are shaping up the current terrorist threat landscape. The focus needs to be on prevention, both in terms of avoiding the institutional collapse of countries, and in terms of a concerted and careful action to repatriate and rehabilitate from the North-East of Syria Foreign Terrorist Fighters and their families, with a specific care for minors at risk of radicalization. Against this backdrop, additional challenges come from the perspective return to their countries of origins of Syria and Libya-based foreign fighters who have allegedly fought in Ukraine.
How has the jihadist threat landscape evolved so rapidly from the MENA and Afghanistan to the Sub-Saharan Africa over the past year? What measures can governments adopt to tackle local and transnational terrorism both offline and online? What steps should be taken to address the drivers of violent extremism and strengthen community resilience? Can governments engage (or even compromise) politically with local jihadist groups, and under which circumstances? How dangerous is the threat posed by foreign fighters in the Ukraine conflict scenario, and what might be the repercussions?
