Royal Holloway, University of London
Department Member, Politics and International Relations
Thesis Title: The Global Jihad
Dr Chris Rumford
Dr Ben O'Loughlin
About
I am currently the Visiting Lecturer in the International Studies Department at De La Salle University in Manila where I teach courses on International Law and the Introductory International Relations of Europe. I am using my time in the Philippines to complete research for my PhD into the Islamic insurgency in Mindanao.
I am honours graduate in Law from the University of Hull and a master’s graduate from the London School of Economics on their MSc Global Politics course. It was at the LSE, under Fred Hallidays tutelage that I developed an interest in 'transnational Islam' and along with David Held and his teachings on Globalisation that have developed into my PhD thesis.
My Thesis:
Extremist, Fundamentalist, Radical, Jihadist, these are just some of the labels thrown at the 'incidents' of the jihad. Yet such descriptions deserved or not, do little to explain what connects the incidents of the jihad. My research is concerned with the explanations as to what connects these incidents.
Can we put it down to the actions of a radicalised few, orchestrated by Al Qaeda? Or are these nothing more than localized insurgencies of groups jostling for political power? These two explanations are based on the thinking around political Islam or Islamism while a new conception of the global jihad allows to break free of old thinking and better describes the jihad and explain the connections.
Examining 3 sample arenas of the jihad, Yorkshire in the UK, The South of Thailand and the Mindanao region of the Philippines. What connects, if anything these incidents and other incidents of the jihad?
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