Conflict : The Boko Haram Insurgency

International Relations is a field of politics that takes a look at the interactions that occur in between states in the international arena. Its aim is to explain why certain events have unfolded in certain ways, as a result of how states use their power relatively to each other. Mostly the interactions that International Relations tries to examine or explain, is the conflicts that arise as a result of differing interests that states have. To provide a base for analysis, this essay is going to use the central theory of realism to explain the civil war that occurred in Nigeria in between 1967 to 1970. This essay will seek to explain

Nigeria is one of the most densely populated countries in all of Africa. However, according to Freedom House, Nigeria is only partly free. This is for several reasons. Firstly, from a historical point of view, colonialism had a very bad effect on Africa. Many will argue that colonialism left Africa with only one practical skill and that is education. Other than education, colonialism left Africa with no other practical skills because it left them independent on others for survival. They had no opportunity to advance because they never had the tools. According to Walter Rodney, the author of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, European capitalists failed to create a working class and to spread industrial skills throughout Africa (Rodney, 1997). European colonists failed to teach practical skills to Africans to keep them subservient. This is evident when Walter Rodney states, “the vast majority of Africans went into colonialism with a hoe and came out with a hoe” (Rodney, 1997, p. 591). Nigeria also has a few social factors that are an impediment to their political progress. In the recent decades, the rise of terrorism has been threatening their way of life. The dominant terrorist group in Nigeria is Boko Haram. Boko Haram has been an ongoing threat to the government and people they believe should be persecuted. According to Freedom House, they are trying to implement Sharia law and an anti-western ideology throughout the country (Freedom House, 2015). This law restricts women’s

While analyzing the North Africa conflict, a combination of service capabilities would be required to achieve the desired end state of deterring and if necessary, the defeat of Algerian guerilla aggression to prevent regional and global destabilization. Taking into account the current military landscape that exists today, a joint task force (JTF) would be the ideal military response of the United States and collation partner’s while utilizing the regional military assets. Intelligence suggests guerilla forces are capable of a full scale offensive into Morocco in less than 36 hour notice, bringing the factors of time, force and space into consideration.

The Boko Haram sect in Nigeria has been a huge problem for the country in the past, and the threat is only growing. This group is considered responsible for a handful of government attacks, targets on the United Nations, and often churches who undermine the Islamic religion. Their actions have spawned from the idea that their country is controlled by “fake Muslims”, and aim to create an Islamic nation ruled with Sharia law.

Boko Haram are motivated by a Jihadist version of Islam and is believed to be believers of the one true interpretation of the (Brinkel & Ait-Hida, 2012, p. 16). Their ultimate goal to create a true Islamic state in Nigeria directly associated with Sharia law. (Chothia, 2015, p. 5). The group has maintained their secrecy and the authorities have yet to be captured by law enforcement. Boko Haram is seen to have many basic views including their religious motivations, political downfall, and their extreme actions taken on the people of Nigeria. Boko

This article is about the mistreatment of people fleeing from Boko Haram who thought that the Nigerian soldiers would save them. As hundreds flee from Boko Haram claimed territories, Nigerian soldiers are picking them up and holding them as prisoners in detention centers, claiming to be trying to protect others from extremist claiming to be victims. This has lead to some accusations of mistreatment because these detention centers are holding men, women, and infants for months on end in unsanitary and unsafe areas. The article then explains that the Nigerian government and army are being accused of being too extreme in its persistence and ways of trying to eliminate Boko Haram. While Nigeria is struggling to handle the threat that is Boko Haram,

For the past seven years innocence have been injured, killed, or brutally tortured by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. They have lost their homes and precious possessions due to a cruel, selfish satisfaction of this organization. Boko Haram members believe that these “brutal penalties” is just an ordinary way to express their culture. Although Nigeria came to a conclusion that these terrorists had given up, it only took five months later to realize it was not the end. Nigeria’s strategies had gotten them nowhere and only led them back to where they started.

In Kathy Gilsinan’s With World Focused on Boko Haram, al-Shabaab Steps Up Offensive (http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/13841/with-world-focused-on-boko-haram-al-shabaab-steps-up-offensive), the topic of al-Shabaab’s legitimacy and terror is discussed. As Boko Haram (another terrorist organization in Africa) has begin inflicting fear through the abduction of schoolgirls and other acts of terror, al-Shabaab has began to take up arms. Its acts of violence are beginning to spread outside the borders of Somalia.

Boko Haram is not able to sustain its success by just its ideological interpretation. Therefore, the organization needs some source of money which comes from external sources. According to the International Business Times (2014), Boko Haram has received millions through ransoms from kidnapping. In addition, the group receives donations from external sympathizers from all around the globe (Caulderwood, para. 8). Boko Haram also has ties to Al-Qaeda as both organizations are known to have exchanged weapons, cash, and some soldiers (para. 9). According to the South African Journal of Military Studies (2012), Boko Haram also gains revenue through an extensive drug trafficking empire. Additionally main is gained by tapping into oil pipelines and

Boko Haram have been known to switch their attack tactics due to Nigerian security forces catching up on them. To begin with, from 2009 to 2014 most attacks carried out by Boko Haram were by armed assaults, which resulted in 63% of the deaths that year (Pricopi,2016). Not only did Boko Haram conduct attacks using armed assaults but they also used bombs as well. In fact, bombing tactics in 2013 were used in 35 incidents; however, that number increased by three times in 2014, making it used in 107 incidents(Pricopi,2016). Also, in that same year the number of civilians attacked in public places also increased as well. Suicide attacks, were also another tactic used by Boko Haram and in 2014, they accounted for atleast 31 of those attacks

Boko Haram has yet to stray from its notoriety as a harsh terrorist threat to both the people of Nigeria and the government itself. In 2014, nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls were stolen from their families in the town of Chibok and taken into captivity by Boko Haram. This event has yet to be rectified now two years later, nor have the families received any news or closure from the Nigerian government. Both citizens of Chibok and activists around the world have developed voices in regard to this ongoing investigation. Videos of the girls have recently surfaced which lead one to believe that the girls are still alive; these videos, however, are most likely either old or altered. Boko Haram has yet to

Western women take a lot for granted. In many parts of the world, even in the 21st century, women are not allowed to dress freely, speak freely, drive, vote, own a business, even go to school. Those that violate the tenets of the society in which they live can be killed for their lack of obedience. Still, like Rosa Parks on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, there are women who are willing to stand up for the rights they do not yet have but know they deserve.

The Al-Shabaab is regarded as one of the most dangerous African terrorist organizations. Al-Shabaab is a multiethnic militant group out of Somalia that uses many terrorist tactics in attempts to gain control over the country of Somalia. They use many forms of terrorism that include ideological revolutionary, dissident, and nationalist terrorism, as they have the motive to gain power over a territory by overthrowing the government. The Al-Shabaab is suspected to have taken part in many terrorist attacks, including the 1998 United States embassies bombings. The motive behind their violence is their goal of creating an Islamic state in Somalia, which they believe is morally justified by the ideological beliefs. An important psychological

They first caught the world 's attention when they raided a boarding school in a town on the edge of nigeria’s border called Chibok. During the raid, approximately 300 nigerian school girls were taken hostage by Boko Haram, and were threatened with forced marriage and forced conversion. This is one of the few acts of violence that Boko Haram have committed against society. Since May 2011, 6,742 people have been killed by Boko Haram during these attacks. Boko Haram has been known for their history of suicide bombing, raiding, and shooting schools and dormitories. “...Boko Haram has been menacing Nigeria’s northern communities for years. “ according to nationalintrest.org.

How can somebody who sucks her mother’s breast will ask why do you need Biafra? Everybody knows this very historical fact that Nigeria preside on the memory of over four million Biafrans who died on genocide under the banner of Biafra and they are doing nothing about it after 45 years. We all are aware that Nigeria unleashes harsh economic measures that have caused so much unsustainable daily living and self-reliance in Biafra land that today over 15 million Biafrans are in diaspora. We do understand the systematic killing of Biafran youths in the Nigerian Army and prisons. The rampant killing of Biafrans by Almajiri in the North in the name of religious differences means absolute rejection. What if Boko Haram is killing our people on a daily basis?