Back

Thriving on uncertainty: COVID-19 related opportunities for terrorist groups

September 23, 2021
Related topics: 
Security & Defense
Terrorism

The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) is organizing a public debate titled "Thriving on uncertainty: COVID-19 related opportunities for terrorist groups” on Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 at 3pm GMT+1. This webinar is the result of a Joint Policy Study, coordinated by our Senior Fellow Abdelhak Bassou and our International Relations Specialist Youssef Tobi, in the framework of the EuroMeSCo: Connecting the Dots project, co-funded by the European Union and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). Covid-19 has put the world in a state of global uncertainty. State responses have been crucial in dealing with this unexpected pandemic, but by putting pressure on health infrastructures and challenging state legitimacy and responses, the virus has slowly become a global test for almost all governments. The efficiency of the strategies employed to cope with the exponential infection rates generated by the pandemic varies and depends on the initial levels of public services available, as well as on the capacity of States to mobilize and communicate in a timely and coherent manner. In the MENA and Sahel regions, we notice an entanglement between pre-existing threats and the impact of the pandemic. In fragile states, the constant threat of violent terrorism has been linked to the turmoil caused by the spread of the virus, amplifying the unsteady scene for countering-terrorism efforts. Terrorist groups, already challenging state legitimacy and human security in the MENA and Sahel countries, have taken COVID-19 as a vindication of their ideological standpoints and have used the uncertainty caused by the virus to further pressure states’ defence apparatuses. Given the limited levels of infrastructures and already challenged political landscapes in these regions, the virus could further weaken economies and fuel public dissent, crafting a perfect storm of conditions for terrorist agendas to thrive. Exploring related opportunities offered by COVID-19 to terrorist groups in these regions allows for a prospective and analytical work that will deepen the understanding of terrorist tactics and propaganda strategies, thus enabling the adoption of a more comprehensive approach with regards to responding and assisting states on the ground. Policy recommendations derived from this study will not only aim at mitigating risks derived from the interlinkage between the turmoil caused by the virus and terrorism in the region, but will also focus on state responses and the assessment of innovative and applicable ways to support CVE and PVE efforts in an uncertain and novel landscape in the regions covered. Against this background, the findings of the paper can help EU policy makers adopt more effective policies in weakening the recruiting capabilities of terrorists, and launch new cooperation programs with North African countries.

Speakers
Abdelhak Bassou
Senior Fellow
Abdelhak Bassou is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Bassou has had an extensive career in Moroccan National Security, where he served in various capacities including as head of the border division from 1978 to 1993. He was the former director of the Royal Institute of Police in 1998 and served as Head of Regional Security (Errachidia 1999-2003, Sidi Kacem 2003-2005) and as Central Director of General Intelligence from 2006 to 2009.   He holds a master's degree in political science and international studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics, and Social Sciences in Rabat. His academic research delves into inte ...
Youssef Tobi
International Relations Specialist
Tobi Youssef has joined the Policy Center for the New South in 2017. He is currently working on Politics and Governance in the Maghreb Region; his areas of expertise are geopolitics, political risk and nation building. Youssef Tobi obtained a Master Degree at Sciences Po Lyon  where he wrote two thesis on “ the role of Moroccan Bank in Africa, a non-state actor in service of the Diplomacy”  and the“ Chasm between the mediatic and associative representation of refugees : a case study”.  Prior to working at the Think tank, Tobi Youssef participated in a Social Entrepreneurship Project in Beirut, Lebanon and conducted an internship in a NGO based in Marseille where he assisted refugees and helped raise funds. ...
Noamane Cherkaoui
Researcher in International Relations, Policy Center for the New South
Noamane Cherkaoui is an analyst in the Strategic Monitoring and Analysis Unit at the Policy Center for the New South, where he has been researching North Africa geopolitics and security. He graduated from the University of Otago in New Zealand with the Dean’s Award. He is also a postgraduate in International Relations at the University of Leicester, with his dissertation being on the external interference in Libya’s Civil War post-2014. ...
Nihal El Mquirmi
International Relations Specialist
Nihal El Mquirmi is an International Relations Specialist within the Department of Research in International Relations at the Policy Center for the New South. Her research focuses on North Africa, the gender-security nexus and the use of Private Military and Security Companies. Nihal joined the Policy Center for the New South in March 2019 following the completion of her M.A. in International Security at the University of Warwick, and her B.A. Hons in International Relations from Complutense University of Madrid. Prior to joining the Policy Center, Nihal interned at the General Consulate of Morocco in Brussels and at the Mission of Morocco to the European Union. ...
Mohammed Loulichki
Senior Fellow
Mohammed Loulichki is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He brings over 40 years of comprehensive experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, and human rights. He has served in various roles including as a member and Deputy Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 3rd Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982-1990), Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1991), and General Director for Multilateral Affairs in the same ministry (2003-2006).   He also acted as Morocco's Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia (1995-1999), and was the Moroccan Government's Ambassador Coordinator with MINURSO (1999-2001). Furthermore, he served ...
Oussama Tayebi
International Relations Specialist
Oussama Tayebi is an International Relations Specialist at the Strategic Analysis & Monitoring Unit of the Policy Center for the New South, where he primarily works on policy and governance issues in the subregion of Central Africa. Oussama holds a Licence degree in political science from the School of Governance and Economics in Rabat and a master’s degree in international relations from Sciences Po Aix. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Lecture dans "Le jihadisme, éléments de compréhension" de Rachid Benlabbah
    Authors
    Jean Zaganiaris
    February 27, 2019
    Comment peut-on définir la présence d’’’Al Quaïda’’, de l’organisation ‘’Etat islamique’’ ou de ‘’Boko Haram’’ sur la scène internationale ? Quelles sont leurs idées, leurs actions, leurs stratégies, leurs modes de communication nationaux et transnationaux ? Ces organisations prolongent-elles un projet politico-religieux dont il faudrait chercher les racines au début des années vingt, avec la fondation des Frères musulmans en Egypte ou, bien, s’agit-il de phénomènes politiques nouve ...
  • Trois Questions à Riccardo Maia, Chef de Bureau de la Minusma à Tombouctou “Parler d’échec est injuste’’
    Authors
    Lemine Ould M. Salem
    November 12, 2018
    C’est l’opération de maintien de la paix la plus meurtrière de l’histoire. Installée en juin 2013, la Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations unies pour la stabilisation au Mali (Minusma) a déjà perdu près de 200 personnes. L’application des dispositions de l’accord de paix signé en 2015 entre le gouvernement malien et les groupes rebelles du Nord marque un grand retard. Pendant ce temps, l’insécurité, longtemps contenue à la seule partie septentrionale du pays, se répand a ...
  • Waltzing Through Arab Nations
    Authors
    Helmut Sorge
    October 15, 2018
    Usually the gray colored drones take off from Dirkou in Northeastern Niger between ten at night and four in the morning. There are no signs of blinking lights, neither on the runway nor on the flying machines, signaling their presence. Niger’s interior minister Mohamed Bazoum pretends not to know about secret operations on a small commercial airport in his country’s desert region -“all I know is that they are American” (Penney et al, 2018). To be precise, we're talking about drones ...
  • S’adapter à une menace changeante, l’Europe face à sa sécurité
    Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    September 24, 2018
    La conférence « A Brave New World, Adapting to a changing security landscape », organisée par Friends of Europe, le 20 septembre 2018 à Bruxelles, a consisté en des tables rondes auxquelles ont participé Bouchra Rahmouni Benhida, Senior Research Fellow d'OCP Policy Center et Amal El Ouassif, Research Assistant, notamment sur les plus grands défis de la politique extérieure européenne. « C’était très gratifiant de voir distribuées, aujourd’hui, les conclusions sur la migration d’un b ...
  • La "Trump/Buhari story" contrariée par l’affaire des Chrétiens nigérians
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    August 31, 2018
    En avril 2018, le président Donald Trump recevait, à la Maison-Blanche, le président nigérian, Muhammadu Buhari, qui venait d’annoncer sa candidature pour briguer un second mandat à la tête du Nigéria. La visite avait une valeur de première car, en effet, c’était la première visite officielle d'un dirigeant africain depuis l'investiture de Donald Trump. Les deux hommes tenaient à la réussite d’une telle visite : --Trump voulait, d’une part, consolider les relations avec un pays qui ...
  • Trials against ISIS
    Authors
    Helmut Sorge
    August 15, 2018
    “I DO NOT BELIEVE IN ISIS. I JUST WANT TO GO HOME” It was a cage. A size large enough to transport six sheep to the market. The cage was made out of wood, possibly the local carpenter was praised for his work by the President of the court.  Wood is difficult to find these days, wood to resist the fury of a human being, forced to stand in the cage and listen to the verdict for his or her crime -- death by hanging, or life in prison. The woman standing in the cage on one of these hot ...
  • Le jihad au Sahel, recul ou extension ? (Partie II)
    Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    July 20, 2018
    Lors d’un séminaire, organisé par l’OCP Policy Center, le 20 juin 2018, à Rabat, des experts du jihad dans le Sahel se sont posé la question de l’extension ou du recul de ces groupes armés. La première partie du compte-rendu des discussions a été publiée ici. Selon Lemine Ould Salem, journaliste mauritanien et auteur de plusieurs livres sur le terrorisme dans le Sahel, « il n’existe pas historiquement de jihad sahélien, même si des épisodes historiques du jihad se sont déroulés sur ...
  • Où va le Mali?
    Authors
    Lemine Ould M. Salem
    July 5, 2018
    Cinq ans et demi après l’intervention militaire internationale conduite par la France pour chasser les jihadistes du nord du Mali, l’ancien Soudan français s’apprête à organiser une élection présidentielle censée accélérer le processus de paix issu des accords inter-maliens négociés à Alger et signés à Bamako en juin 2015. « Un scrutin décisif”, soutient en marge de l’African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO), organisé les 18 et 19 juin 2018 à Rabat au Maroc par l’OCP P ...
  • Jihad au Sahel : recul ou extension ?
    Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    June 28, 2018
    Qui sont les groupes jihadistes actifs dans le Sahel, vaste région de 3 millions de kilomètres carrés ? Quels sont leurs objectifs, leurs moyens d'action et comment évoluent-ils ? Quelles sont les solutions en cours pour faire face à ces groupes ?  Les experts réunis lors du séminaire sur le Jihad au Sahel, organisé le 20 juin à Rabat par l’OCP Policy Center, ont tenté de répondre à ces questions.  Recul ou extension ?  La thèse du recul a été posée par une source française. Entre ...