The African “caliphate of the mind”

The Islamic State (ISIS) has transformed from a centralised group into a remote organisation with operational and financial autonomy in various pockets of insurgency, as covered by Maghrebi Week on 25th August.

Propaganda is maintained through the Al-Naba newsletter, and the resilience and strength of ISIS’ new “global franchise” has seen the development of a “caliphate of the mind” as insurgencies embed further into local conflicts.

Grievances over governance, ethnicity and resource distribution are being exploited and calls for long-term, coordinated and patient commitment by African states and their international partners are seeing a fight against ISIS become one not for Raqqa or Mosul but for legitimacy and survival across neglected African villages.

Maghrebi Week