Radicalization and De-Radicalization between National and Global Jihadism: From the First Egyptian National Jihadists to al-Qaeda

At the turn of the Twenty-first century, a number of violent jihadi groups laid down their arms, as in the case of Egypt and Libya. Many of those former fighters ceased actual violence, and some of them took a step forward, initiating processes of ideological de-radicalization and doctrinal changes that deeply transformed their stance towards the State and active confrontation. How was it possible for those groups to disengage and de-radicalize? Why doesn’t this happen again, among other contemporary jihadists? Sara Brzuszkiewicz argues that the answer is simple, yet quite pessimistic: those who de-radicalized were national jihadists. Once jihad goes global it is no longer possible for an organic process of collective and political de-radicalization to happen. Radicalization and de-radicalization between national and global jihadism. From the first Egyptian national jihadists to Al Qaeda retraces the trajectory of the jihadists who de-radicalized and of those who went global, and measures the role of national jihadism and its characteristics in making de-radicalization a viable option.