IS Affiliates and the Transnationalization of Local Conflicts

• In Event: Counterinsurgency Warfare

Abstract

As the Islamic State expanded its regional and global influence, numerous militants around the world affiliated themselves with the group. This has prompted a debate over what this affiliation means: are these groups signing on to IS' mission and ideology, with resulting impacts on their local conflicts? Or have these groups continued to focus on local concerns, with the IS affiliation a strategic move to gain more attention? In this paper, I treat IS and its affiliates as part of a network embedded in a broader network of Islamist militant groups. I use methods from network analysis to answer these questions, finding that the transnational pull of IS and ideological similarity between IS and certain militant groups explains their affiliation. Additionally, affiliation with IS leads to more severe violence by these groups. These findings demonstrate that IS' global reach has transnationalized many local conflicts, contributing to debates on the nature of IS' threat to the international community and the value of network analysis. The paper also relates to the conference theme of relationality, by highlighting the importance of understanding interactions among militant groups.

Author

• Peter Shane Henne, University of Vermont