Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

The Origins of Global Jihad: Explaining the Arab Mobilization to 1980s Afghanistan

Open to the Public

In the 1980s, thousands of Arabs volunteered to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation. Why had the Muslim world not seen private transnational mobilization for war before the 1980s? Who initiated and led the mobilization effort and why?

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come-first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Mujahedeen rebels, holy warriors, are shown as they rest high in the mountains in the Kunar province area in Afghanistan in May 1980.

About

In the 1980s, thousands of Arabs volunteered to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation. The consequences of their involvement are widely known. The so-called Arab Afghan movement spawned al-Qaida and other extremist groups well into the 1990s. But why did the Arabs go to Afghanistan in the first place? Or more interestingly: why had the Muslim world not seen private transnational mobilization for war before the 1980s? Who initiated and led the mobilization effort and why? What was the role of states such as Saudi Arabia? The presentation relies on findings from new empirical research conducted for a book project about the jihadist ideologue Abdallah Azzam and the first Arab Afghans.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come-first served basis.