Page 162 - 国际安全研究2019年第4期

Journal of International Security Studies

failures. Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda’s collapse in 2011 has proved that ISIS, in the
foreseeable future, will be most likely to continue its “nostalgia narrative” and make
efforts to legitimize its defeat, further upgrade and diffuse the kernel of its terrorist
thought featuring “violence equals ideology” through the “franchise model” under a
global terror brand. The counter-terrorism war against ISIS launched by the
international community has just progressed to a mid-term assessment, for the war is
far from over.
[Keywords] ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Salafi-jihadist ideology, terrorism, ideology,
nostalgia narrative
[Author] SHEN Xiaochen, Resident Researcher, China National Institute for SCO
International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, Shanghai University of Political
Science and Law (Shanghai, 201701).

138 “Near Enemy” or “Far Enemy”: Disputes among Islamic Extremists
WANG Jin

[Abstract] Although both the “far enemy” represented by the western world and the
“near enemy” represented by “Kufr” governments in the Arab-Islamic world are
“mortal enemies” of Islamic extremists, which enemy should be the priority target of
strike has become one of the heatedly debated issues among Islamic extremists. The
answer to this question largely determines the concrete strategic practices of Islamic
extremist organizations. On the one hand, the Islamic extremists who advocate the
“far-enemy priority” consider the individuals and interests of the United States and
other western countries in the Arab world the focus of their attack, try to infiltrate
into the western world and watch for an opportunity to launch massive terrorist
attacks in due course so as to facilitate the downfall of Islamic “Kufr” governments,
prompt Muslims to “awaken” and then create a “Caliphate” in the Islamic world. On
the other hand, other Islamic extremists believe that it is of overarching importance
to target and overthrow the “Kufr” governments in the Arab-Islamic world and
facilitate the establishment of an “Islamic State” by plotting terrorist attacks and
seizing political power through violent activities and chaos. Different opinions
concerning the prioritization of “near enemy” and “far enemy” stem from
diametrically different political logic followed by varied Islamic extremist
organizations. Therefore, the analysis of their strategic line of thinking will be
conducive to a better understanding of the political logic and ideologies of Islamic
extremists and will shed some light on the international community in their
grappling with the ideologies and practices of Islamic extremist organizations.
[Keywords] Islamic extremism, Islamic terrorism, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi,
Sayyed Qutb, Abu Mus’ab al-Suri
[Author] WANG Jin, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Political Sciences, University of
Haifa; Research Fellow, Syria Research Centre, Northwest University in China.

（本期英文编辑：张国帅 高静）

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