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davidbfpo
06-26-2017, 09:28 PM
A brilliant exchange between two SME Shadi Hamid and Andrew Lebovich, on this question via Brookings. They cover Algeria, Mali and Senegal.

From the introduction:
...exchanged a number of emails this past year that unexpectedly generated a substantive dialogue on Islam and politics, focusing on a region, West Africa, which rarely receives much attention. Shadi and Andrew also discuss how Islamists conceive of state power, the role of Sufism, whether secularists and Islamists need each other, and how understandings of Islam change as education increases.
Link:https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/why-are-there-so-few-islamists-in-west-africa-a-dialogue-between-shadi-hamid-and-andrew-lebovich/? (https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/why-are-there-so-few-islamists-in-west-africa-a-dialogue-between-shadi-hamid-and-andrew-lebovich/?utm_content=buffercdf43&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

Some real surprises and quirks.

This could fit in the broader thread Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection) (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection)) on another day.:wry:

Azor
06-27-2017, 07:49 PM
A brilliant exchange between two SME Shadi Hamid and Andrew Lebovich, on this question via Brookings. They cover Algeria, Mali and Senegal.

From the introduction:
Link:https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/why-are-there-so-few-islamists-in-west-africa-a-dialogue-between-shadi-hamid-and-andrew-lebovich/? (https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/why-are-there-so-few-islamists-in-west-africa-a-dialogue-between-shadi-hamid-and-andrew-lebovich/?utm_content=buffercdf43&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

Some real surprises and quirks.

This could fit in the broader thread Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection) (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection)) on another day.:wry:

This is a rather curious article with a dubious assertion.

Firstly, there are raging Islamist insurgencies in Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger (4 of Western Africa's 16 states).

Secondly, there was an Islamist leading Gambia until recently, and a sectarian flavor to the violence in Ivory Coast a few years back.