ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the links and reciprocal relationships between the phenomena or processes. Those processes are the link and connection between radical Islam and the creation and existence of the phenomena of failing states and ungovernable regions; the intercultural conflict between radical Islam and other cultures, particularly the Western culture. The chapter focuses on Somalia which in various stages of its history has had the status of a failing and failed/collapsed state. International terror and crime act as networks with global dispersion, while the failing states and ungovernable regions constitute the main infrastructure focal points and bases for action. Al-Qaeda, twelve years after the 9/11 attacks, is thriving in the chaos of the Arab awakening, and weak and failing states are al-Qaeda's incubators. Al-Qaeda–affiliated groups have flourished in failed states, and they have waged a simultaneous jihadist war. Al-Qaeda–franchises developed in the countries because of chronic state failure, autocratic governments, and tribal conflicts.
