Review of “Tribes and Global Jihadism”

Tribes and Global Jihadism edited by Virginie Collombier and Olivier Roy is the collaborative work of scholars seeking to explore and explain the relationships between the tribal communities of the Middle East and North Africa and jihadist groups. The book features seven chapters with five case studies that shed light on Afghanistan, the borderland between Egypt and Libya, Egypt's Sinai, Yemen, Chad and Libya's Sirte. The authors start by outlining the map of distribution of local Islamic emirates pledging allegiance to either Al-Qaeda or Daesh and state that they are all situated in tribal areas. While tribal areas are often remote regions that can provide protection against the state or foreign counter-insurgency, the authors contend that geography alone does not suffice in explaining the association between jihadist groups and the tribes. They attempt to disassemble the complexity of this phenomenon, by taking into consideration factors such as state policies towards the tribes and their socio-economic impact on them, the crisis of tribal leadership and community cohesion, and the impact of civil warfare on the tribes.