influition

By Michael Freedman

What’s the difference between Hamas in Iraq, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Jihad and Reform Front? The three militant Islamist groups are based in Iraq, but they have different historical roots and leadership structures. And their goals and strategies do not necessarily align.

These differences highlight one of the biggest challenges to tackling terrorism: understanding the motivations, allegiances, shifting priorities and organizational structures of the dozens of militant groups around the world.

Groups with similar grievances and demographics sometimes merge with one another; other times they don’t. Organizations that begin with one leadership structure might splinter or change over time, giving birth to a hydra of new militant groups that may themselves merge or diverge in new and unexpected ways. 

To better understand how these organizations interact with each other and with governments, political scientist Martha Crenshaw is building a searchable, online map that shows the history and relationships among militant organizations. This visual representation includes detailed descriptions of the groups, and shows dates of leadership changes, major attacks and the beginning and end of relationships with other militant groups.

Continue reading: http://fsi.stanford.edu/news/crenshaw_mapping_militants/

Website of maps: http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/