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the Contribution of Counterterrorism to Islamophobia and Muslim Discrimination in Belgium
Taschner, Anouk Emilie ; Anceschi, Luca (vedoucí práce) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent)
Despite the important expansion of counterterrorism in the West as a response to jihadist terrorist attacks, their effect on Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination has mostly been researched in the United Kingdom and only to a limited extent in other countries. This dissertation analyses the contribution of counterterrorism to Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination in Belgium. As Belgium had not been confronted to any major terrorist threats, the Belgian counterterrorism framework is mainly influenced by the European Union's counterterrorism strategy and international cooperation, which is built upon the jihadist threat in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The European Union's counterterrorism measures become increasingly repressive and create an utilitarian value system, in which the security of the majority is prioritised over the freedom of minorities, such as the Muslim one. This qualitative case study assesses Islamophobia and Muslim discrimination in Belgium's legislative framework and policies. It then proceeds with the analysis of the perception of the Islamic threat by the five main federal actors to counter terrorism, namely, The State Security Service (La Sûreté de l'Etat), The Framework for Security (La Note Cadre de Sécurité Intégrale), The Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis...
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The Russian Hybrid-Gambit and Baltic Countermoves: Hybrid War, Grand Strategy, and Whole-of Society Defense
McDonell, Rory Joseph ; Hynek, Nikola (vedoucí práce) ; Anceschi, Luca (oponent)
This study explores hybrid warfare as a strategic choice for states under geopolitical pressure. This form of warfare, often covert and non-military, is not a new concept; history's prominent military theorists have long advocated for achieving political objectives through subversion and coercion rather than overt conflict. While not new, technology and a changing geopolitical landscape are making these tactics more prevalent, and the very nature of open democratic societies can make them vulnerable to hybrid attacks. Russia's strategic challenges, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, exemplify the conditions that stimulate the application of hybrid warfare. The loss of control over critical geographical invasion points, combined with Western encroachment on its borders, has led to Russia employing hybrid warfare in an attempt to regain strategic influence over former Soviet territories. The Baltics have responded by implementing whole-of-society defence, a strategy that encourages integrated comprehensive societal participation for national defence. This research aims to understand and explore these opposing strategic dynamics. This study is guided by two key research questions: first, what is the role of hybrid warfare in grand strategy and how effective is it in accomplishing...
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Western women and violent jihad: analysis of ISIS' gendered propaganda and UK's counterterrorism strategies
Bulferetti, Emanuela ; Anceschi, Luca (vedoucí práce) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent)
This dissertation examines the migration of Western women to ISIS-held territories, aiming to evaluate which strategies and narratives ISIS has exploited to convince them to make this decision. After tracing the phenomenon of radicalisation and women's participation in jihadi organisations, the research employs critical discourse analysis and qualitative content research to examine the language used by ISIS in its magazines, namely Dabiq, Rumiyah, and in the Manifesto for Women. The research highlights that there are three gendered narratives exploited by ISIS to recruit women and make them migrate. First, women are solicited to perform hijrah because it is honourable and because women's help in building the Ummah is fundamental. Secondly, women are called to hijrah to carry out violent jihad and to help in the establishment of the Islamic State. The third gendered entails leveraging women into the conviction that living in the Caliphate will allow them to escape from the corruption of the Western world and to live a pious and pure Islamic life. Migrating to ISIS-held territories is therefore fundamental to make women pure again, and to distance them from the ideas of emancipation and freedom. Thanks to the single case study in the framework of policy analysis, it is clear that the importance of...
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Identifying the causal link between the desiccation of Lake Chad and Boko-Haram recruitment in the Sahel region
Bharkhada, Jayesh ; Anceschi, Luca (vedoucí práce) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent)
The relationship between the effects of climate change and developing security issues around the world are becoming increasingly complex as the effects of climate change become more dangerous. Climate change impacts food, energy and water supplies and causes the mass loss of life and international displacement, these are effects felt most notably by those who experience poverty or rely on natural resources for their livelihoods (Environment, 2017). This thesis highlights a theatre of conflict involving the relationship between those who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and those who seek to take advantage of their weaknesses. The vulnerable group in question are those who operate across the agricultural sector in the Sahel in West Africa, their livelihoods are endangered by the desiccation of the region's main water source, this being Lake Chad. As Lake Chad continues to shrink Boko-Haram have been capitalizing on the community vulnerabilities that have been exposed and have increased recruitment efforts as a result. A close analysis of the shrinking of Lake Chad and Boko-Haram recruitment increases garners data so compelling that one can create a causal link between the two factors. This causal link is what the thesis strives to create, it does so with the reliance on a vast...
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Terrorists or trafficking victims? An analysis of how the UK Prevent policy frames those at risk of joining terror groups abroad
Slater, Caitlin ; Anceschi, Luca (vedoucí práce) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent)
The aim of this research is to analyse whether the Prevent policy in the United Kingdom has resulted in the labelling of the Muslim community as 'suspect' and to assess the impact this has on potential victims of terrorism related trafficking. The strategy was first implemented in 2003 in the wake of 9/11 and in the early years of the 'War on Terror'. It has been accused of being Islamophobic and playing a large role in labelling Muslims as a suspect community. Prevent is a referral system through which anybody who causes concern regarding extremism can be reported. Once reported the case is assessed and it is decided if it will be dismissed, signposted to other services or taken further (UK Government 2019). This report will analyse statistics released by the government regarding Prevent referrals as well as case studies through which it is evident that the policy creates a suspect community. The rise of ISIS in 2011 led to a rise in people travelling to join in the following years. Among these people there were children aged under 18. The international definition of human trafficking lays out that there does not need to be proof of deception involved in order for a child to have been a victim of trafficking (OSCE 2021). Prevent is the policy that would be employed if there was believed to be risk...
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Blockages to peace in Libya: The role of post-conflict Security Sector Reform
Magouri, Shahd Omar A ; Visoka, Gëzim (vedoucí práce) ; Anceschi, Luca (oponent)
This thesis focuses on the evolution of the Libyan security sector after the 2011 uprising. Building on the theoretical frameworks of statebuilding and post-conflict peacebuilding, this research examines the structure of the Libyan security sector under the Gaddafi regime, to assist in contextualising the unique nature of the institutions, and to understand the changes that occurred after the 2011 uprising. This background context assists with evaluating to what extent did the security sector evolve, and how did the lack of successful reform hinder the UN-led peace process. This research places its focus on the timeframe between 2011 to 2019, using a qualitative method of research. It aims at understanding the impact of the security sector on the Libyan peace process in terms of its contribution to insecurity, and the significance and relevance of having a successful implementation of SSR and DDR, due to the ongoing security fragmentation and state failure. This research finds that the security sector reform initiatives committed by international actors were unsuccessful due to several factors, including the evacuation of personnel due to deteriorating security conditions, and the exclusion of key actors from negotiations. Furthermore, initiatives at security sector reform by Libyan actors were...
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Gender aspects in state-led water security discourses: A case study of the Syr Darya river basin countries
Mukhamejan, Nadira ; Parks, Louisa Rosemary (vedoucí práce) ; Anceschi, Luca (oponent)
This postgraduate research project proposes to explore water security discourses in Central Asia, which is one of the global "climate hotspots" (Giorgi, 2006, p. 33). Recent increases in temperatures exceeding global historical averages are causing more frequent droughts and earlier snowmelt, which has a major influence on future water availability in an already water-stressed region (Bernauer and Siegfried, 2012; Sorg et al., 2013). These impacts affect individuals and segments of society differently and aggravate already existing gendered vulnerabilities and diverse capacities to face its consequences (Sultana, 2018, p. 19). There is a growing consensus that water relations in societies are affected by social relationships related to gender (Fröhlich et al., 2018). Several case studies have indeed highlighted that water (in)securities are rooted in gendered water-related labour division and associated social norms, and could be worsened by climate change (Rao et al., 2019, Adams et al., 2018, Bacon et al., 2022). However, the geography of this literature body is uneven: existing studies are focused on Southeast Asia, Africa, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While there is a growing research interest to gendered realities and insecurities in water sector, the academic literature in...
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Countering Religious Extremism and Online Radicalization in Uzbekistan
Khakimov, Farrukh ; Anceschi, Luca (vedoucí práce) ; Fitzgerald, James (oponent) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent)
From the early days of its independence the Republic of Uzbekistan considered religious extremism and terrorism as the most serious threat to national and regional security. During the 1990s internationally designated terrorist organizations: "The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" (IMU), "The Islamic Jihad Union" (IJU)1 , Central Asian branch of "Hizbut-Tahrir al Islamiya" (HT) and other radical groups emerged in Uzbekistan as opponents to secular political system of the newly independent state - Republic of Uzbekistan. Due to strict counterterrorism policy of Uzbekistan the level of the threat in the country steadily declined, however, religious extremism and radicalism have not disappeared as major radical organizations moved to neighbouring Afghanistan and Tajikistan; some of which still conduct covert activities within the country and abroad. In addition, the recent emergence of different radical militant groups in Afghanistan such as Katibat al-Imam al-Bukhari (KIB) and Katibat Tavhid wal Jihod (KTJ), which have returned to the region from Syrian civil war, caused concerns for Central Asian countries, especially for Uzbekistan as these radical militant groups are fighting in the north of the Afghanistan, not far from Uzbekistan's border (Cornell & Zenn, 2018). Moreover, with the development of...
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Jihadism in Post-2011 Libya: The Tale of Three Cities: Benghazi, Derna and Sirte
Ben musa, Nuran Hassuna Abdulhamid ; Rivetti, Paola (vedoucí práce) ; Anceschi, Luca (oponent) ; Ludvík, Zdeněk (oponent)
After the collapse of the regime in Libya, many groups were formed, and jihadist groups were among those. This thesis focuses on Jihadism in post-Qaddafi's Libya. The research examines the different Jihadist groups, Ansar Al-Sharia and the Islamic State in Libya, and the factor that led to the rise of those jihadist groups. This research mainly concentrates on three Libyan Cities, Benghazi and Derna to the east, and Sirte to the centre. This study aims at understanding the composition of Jihadist groups operating in Libya since 2011 and discuss their significance and relevance in the scene of security fragmentation and state failure. Moreover, this research examines the interception between the different jihadist groups in Libya and the global jihadists organizations and networks, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Keywords: Al-Qaeda Affiliates, Benghazi, Derna. Jihadism, Jihadist groups Libya, Sirte, the Islamic State.
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Saving President Assad: Russian Impact on the Eruption of the Syrian Civil War
Belkania, Badri ; Rivetti, Paola (vedoucí práce) ; Aslan, Emil (oponent) ; Anceschi, Luca (oponent)
The Arab Spring, a series of massive revolts against the incumbent regimes in the Middle East, heavily touched Syria. Despite of the strong internal and international pressure, the president Bashar al-Assad refused to resign and violently thwarted peaceful protests, pushing the country to the bloody and devastating civil war. Since the start of the demonstrations in Syria, the incumbent government has been benefiting from the robust political, military, financial and diplomatic support from Russia. This thesis provides a thorough recount of the Russian impact, strategic interests, policy and actions prior and during the transformation phase of the protests into the war. The study reaffirms the conclusion of other scholars that Russian negative impact on the eruption of the Syrian Civil War has been substantial, as the Kremlin significantly enhanced the regime's positions outside and inside Syria, making it capable to withstand the pressure. Additionally, in pursuit of the answers on the main research questions of the thesis, namely, finding out why was the Russia's policy in Syria successful, the dissertation offers an exhaustive and coherent explanation of the Moscow's accomplishment in saving the violent regime from fall. Based on the analysis of the accessible material, the thesis concludes that...
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