Evolución y situación actual del terrorismo yihadista: dinámicas, retos y perspectivas de futuro

Abstract

Jihadist terrorism, whose ultimate goal is to establish its radical and distorted vision of Islam worldwide, has become one of the main threats to global security, having participated in various conflicts since the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan jihad in 1979.To achieve this, it has followed a dual strategy that has evolved over the years, while adapting its approach to the changing circumstances in which it has had to operate.On the one hand, it has sought to participate in the various conflicts that have arisen in various countries with a Muslim population, fighting against the governments present there (near enemy), with special mention to those that arose in Iraq and, later, in Syria and also in Iraq, focusing its efforts there in order to establish a territorial foothold and, subsequently, seek to expand to other neighboring countries.On the other hand, it has attempted to expand its reach through a process of decentralizing its activities at all levels, both propaganda-wise and logistically and operationally. To this end, it has used the internet as an essential tool to foster violent radicalization and the commission of terrorist acts in various countries it considers its far enemy due to their support for the Arab governments it seeks to overthrow.In order to achieve the objectives set out in the previous paragraph, various threat vectors have been used to carry out these attacks, including individual terrorism and Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) returning from conflict zones.