Africa as an epicenter for radical Islam...

[Os Cangaceiros]

Is it just me or does it seem like religious extremism has been getting more play in Africa recently, as opposed to the middle east and central Asia? With Boko Haram accelerating their campaigns over the past couple years in Nigeria, the situation in Mali, al-Shabaab in Somalia, the situation in Libya, and the most recent bloodsoaked hostage situation in Algeria...

But I might be completely off-base...I'm well aware of the fact that this sort of thing w/ relation to al-Qaeda and such groups is hardly new, they've had stuff going on in Africa for a while now. It seems like it's kind of been increasing in west Africa specifically, though.

[RedSonRising]

The further imperialist aggression aggravates social conditions in Africa, the higher the potential is for extremism to take hold, as competing ethnic groups struggle for resources and adopt more and more nationalist or religious-extremist principles.

[Sasha]

Taliban model, anything that promises stability and an end to corruption...

[bcbm]

al qaeda was operating out of sudan for a lot of the 90s and there was the civil war in algeria between the islamists and the government. as i understand it they basically moved from algeria to mali after losing the civil war and regrouped there. i think the ongoing stuff is a continuation of previous activities and part of a general expansion that has been happening over the last twenty years

[brigadista]

power vacuum ....no different to western countries going right during adversity

[bcbm]

i think that is a little too simplistic an analysis

[brigadista]

i think that is a little too simplistic an analysis

i dont :) except maybe western opportunism fuelling things is also a factor

[Lensky]

The further imperialist aggression aggravates social conditions in Africa, the higher the potential is for extremism to take hold, as competing ethnic groups struggle for resources and adopt more and more nationalist or religious-extremist principles.

Not to mention extremist groups have a history of being funded by the bourgeois for maintaining control.