NGO intervention in jihadist conflicts: a closer look at Afghanistan and Somalia

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that an increase in the number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will increase terrorist attacks. However, the nuances of this relationship are unknown. This study seeks to examine the role that NGO activities have on terrorist activities in conflict areas. Specifically, it is hypothesized that, in regions where the terrorist organization (TO) holds jihadist beliefs, international NGOs will be viewed as threatening representatives of non-Islamic interests. Therefore, an increase in NGO activities will incite an increase in TO violence directed towards NGOs and foreign forces, as TOs seek to deter and eliminate non-Islamic influences. These hypothesized relationships are examined using data from the Global Terrorism Database in Afghanistan and Somalia between 1994 and 2013. Time series analyses indicate support in Somalia: an increase in select NGO activities significantly increases attacks targeting NGOs and foreign forces. Afghanistan demonstrates partial support: an increase in select NGO activities significantly increases attacks targeting NGOs but does not influence attacks targeting foreign forces.

KEYWORDS:

• Terrorism
• political violence
• non-governmental organizations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Omi Hodwitz is a criminologist who specializes in terrorism studies, theory construction and application, and research methods. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Idaho. Prior to joining the University of Idaho, she was a researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.

Notes

1 The term non-Islamic is used in this article as a shorthand to refer to a subset of Salafism which is a subset of Islam.