ABSTRACT
Introduction Both Jihadists and Anarchists can be categorized as transnational, violent actors. They also share an anti-statist objective: Anarchists (at least those of a century ago) sought the establishment of overarching federal governance shared by a manifold of self-generated groups, while Jihadists ultimately seek to replace the state-centric system with a great Caliphate regime. While the Anarchists of 100 years ago failed in their global endeavors, for Jihadists the outcome is not yet as clear. Accounting for the Jihadists’ global political potential and deciding whether the movement represents a uniquely new phenomenon in international politics both remain pressing and challenging tasks. Comparing today’s Jihadist militants’ global agency to that of other VNSAs such as the Anarchists requires first looking at the early years of the modern Jihadist movement: What factors in the years preceding the 9/11 attacks contributed to the emergence of the first globally recognized face of the Jihadists, al Qaeda? Al Qaeda did not, of course, emerge out of the blue on September 11, 2001. The organization’s history as well as the contextual events and attitudes that served to its ability to grow to such an extent date back for many years before 2001.What kind of environment, events, or personalities enabled-or perhaps forced-the organization to develop the early building blocks of its autonomy, representation, and influence? In this chapter, the notion of Jihadism and its historical origins are discussed, including the role of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran as an inspiration for the Jihadists. Then, the Jihadists,’ in particular, al Qaeda’s, overall agency potential in the pre-9/11 era is explored based on the ARI framework.
