The International System and Salafi Jihadist Resistance

Abstract

The Salafi Jihadist concept of political order stands in stark contrast to the concepts that define the contemporary international system. The idea that the Islamic community is divided among varying sovereign states and not governed by their ideological understanding of sharia, is deeply problematic. More pressing to the central question that this book addresses is how this system is maintained, such that by its very character it prevents unity and legitimacy of the Salafi Jihadist variety. In part, as it has been argued in the preceding chapters, it is hegemonic power and increasingly other great and emerging powers that help to maintain the status quo order. This chapter investigates how this order emerged and observes how it presents significant obstacles to the Salafi Jihadists’ project that forces jihadists to develop international strategies to counter the international order.