Friday October 18, 2024
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Meeting Both In-Person and by Zoom
Dampeer Room, Second Floor of Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
I regret to say that we need to postpone the originally-scheduled discussion for Friday, October 18.
We will have to reschedule that. In the meantime, Karl Kaltenthaler, who was originally scheduled for October 25, has agreed to move his talk to this week.
With Israel at war with both Hamas and Hezbollah, amid humanitarian disaster, the Middle East is getting horrified attention. But potential conflicts in the Middle East extend beyond Israel and Palestine, as we might be reminded by Syrian rebels’ reactions to the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrullah.
For most of the past two decades, American attention has been directed less to Hezbollah and Hamas, localized organizations, than to the broader “Jihadi” movement of which the most prominent manifestations have been Al Qaeda, perpetrator of 9/11, and ISIL (also called Da’esh), which temporarily conquered large parts of Iraq and Syria. The meaning of jihad has been contested for centuries and is debated among Muslims today. But “Jihadi” movements at a minimum involve religious sanction and legitimation for military conflict against non-Muslims or Muslims viewed as apostates. And whether we are looking at Boko Haram in Nigeria or the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris, terrorist attacks outside the immediate vicinity of Palestine tend to be associated with broader Jihadi organizations. In fact, one briefing for the European Parliament argues that, “militant groups" like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas adhere to a more conservative understanding of jihad. Jihadist groups like al Qaeda and ISIL/Da’esh regard them with hostility: Hezbollah due to its Shia origins; Hamas because of its involvement in man-made structures of governance, including the fight against jihadi groups.”
Therefore it makes sense to look back at the broader structure of conflict between “Islam” (or some versions) and “the West” (or some parts of it). And at the conflicts within Islam also represented by Jihadi movements. The Political Science Department is fortunate to have Karl Kaltenthaler guest-teaching our students about that this semester! And so I am very glad he has agreed to talk with our Public Affairs group as well.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Karl Kaltenthaler’s research and teaching focuses on security policy, political violence, political psychology, public opinion and political behavior, terrorism, counterterrorism, and xenophobia. He has been part of or completed multiple research studies in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, and the United States. He is currently researching the radicalization process and recruitment into violent political extremism as well as ways to counter this process (Countering Violent Extremism). This work has resulted in academic publications and presentations as well as reports and briefings for the U.S. government. His research has been published in three books, multiple book chapters, as well as articles in International Studies Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, as well as other journals. |
