Experts Explore Expanding Presence of Terrorist Groups in Africa

On Tuesday, the 9/11 Memorial Museum hosted a special public program on address the rise of terrorism in Africa.

Two experts on terrorism in the African continent – Dr. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim and Katherine Zimmerman – engaged in a wide-ranging discussion with Noah Rauch, senior vice president for education and public programs at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, touching on the continued presence of Boko Haram in Nigeria and actions of al-Qaeda in Western Africa and the Sahel.

Fraser-Rahim and Zimmerman explored the psychology of radicalization and methods of terrorist recruitment. “Terrorist organization are able to adapt,” said Fraser-Rahim. “They are able to recognize they need to tap into different groups of people to carry out and execute their aims. And so it’s men, it’s young boys, it’s children, it’s providing ideological incentives, it’s providing financial incentives. Ideology isn’t everything, but ideology does play a part particularly on the continent of Africa.”

In the clip below, Zimmerman expands further on how terrorist groups take hold in vulnerable areas:

“The groups are really trying to imbed within the communities and they’re using this framework of taking the glory days and pointing out that life today is not what was promised to the people. That the contract that they had with the state has really not been fulfilled. That the state is exploiting them, abandoning them, marginalizing them and that part of it is because of their ethnic identity or their religious identity.”

You can watch the full program here. Click here to find out more about the fall 2018 public programming season at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff