Friends or Foes? The Complex Relationships Among Jihadi Groups

Despite observers’ tendency to bracket all jihadi groups together, there are considerable differences between many groups, at times accompanied by bitter and violent infighting. Even within each of the major transnational jihadi groups – al-Qaeda and the Islamic State – there are internal conflicts and both are less unified than is commonly thought. The talk will focus on the differences and conflict between jihadi groups and within them, and assess the implications of intra-jihadi dynamics on the threat they pose.

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Dr. Barak Mendelsohn is a Professor of Political Science at Haverford College. He holds a doctoral degree in Government from Cornell University, MA in Security Studies from Tel Aviv University, and BA in Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Dr. Mendelsohn specializes in international security, primarily radical jihadi organizations. He is the author of three books: Combating Jihadism: American Hegemony and Interstate Cooperation in the War on Terrorism (University of Chicago Press, 2009), The al-Qaeda Franchise: The Expansion of al-Qaeda and Its Consequences (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Jihadism Constrained: The Limits of Transnational Jihadism and What It Means for Counterterrorism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Dr. Mendelsohn is also the author of numerous articles in academic journals and various media outlets.