Sinai between Globalized Jihad and Localized Oppression

صورة توضيحية


The current Sinai issue poses many questions on the nature of the escalating violence there, the reasons for its emergence, who its perpetrators are, and the extent of the threat it poses, be it on the local, regional, or international level. This article aims to put forward an approach with a sociological dimension to the question of violence in Sinai from the perspective of human security, by examining the elements of what will be referred to here as “oppression in Sinai”, and the extent to which this oppression is behind radicalization among the Sinai Bedouin, leading them to embrace violent armed groups. The article discusses the risks that this situation has engendered and analyzes this in the framework of transformations within globalized Islamic jihadism. The study argues that increasing local oppression will push the risks of armed violence to a level that might lead the Egyptian state to lose control of Sinai.

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Abstract

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The current Sinai issue poses many questions on the nature of the escalating violence there, the reasons for its emergence, who its perpetrators are, and the extent of the threat it poses, be it on the local, regional, or international level. This article aims to put forward an approach with a sociological dimension to the question of violence in Sinai from the perspective of human security, by examining the elements of what will be referred to here as “oppression in Sinai”, and the extent to which this oppression is behind radicalization among the Sinai Bedouin, leading them to embrace violent armed groups. The article discusses the risks that this situation has engendered and analyzes this in the framework of transformations within globalized Islamic jihadism. The study argues that increasing local oppression will push the risks of armed violence to a level that might lead the Egyptian state to lose control of Sinai.

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