Author: Meghan J. King

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13:

"Daesh, or the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), proved that the threat of jihadism transcends all boarders when it announced its intention to establish a worldwide caliphate on 29 June 2014. The following September, at the NATO Summit in Wales, the United States organized a 60-nation coalition to defeat Daesh. The danger posed by the group reached new heights in March 2015, with the induction of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram (BH) into the caliphate as 'the Islamic State's West Africa Province' (ISWAP) -- thus marking Daesh's first departure beyond the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Terrorism, specifically jihadist terrorism, has become increasingly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Jihadist organizations are active in at least fourteen Sub-Saharan states and have known ties with their counterparts in the Sahel, North Africa, and the Middle East. Yet, insofar as it affects transatlantic security, terrorism continues to be treated as a threat emanating from countries in the MENA region. The 2014 Wales Summit declaration slightly mitigated the Alliance's limited focus by adding the Sahel to NATO's agenda for the first time. The Alliance has not, however, given due attention to the spread of terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa, where much of the region is ripe for the cultivation of extremist ideologies. This paper follows from the contention that the threat of terrorism cannot be compartmentalized or studied in isolation. It looks at Sub-Saharan Africa as part of a globally networked world of transnational threats. Drawing on the relationship between Daesh and its 'wilayat' (province) in West Africa, this paper builds on the Wales Summit Declaration in arguing that instability and terrorism south of Sahel does constitute a threat to transatlantic security"--Pages 1-2.