Globalization, Religious Extremism and Security Challenges in the Twenty–First Century

Abstract

Since the twentieth century, intensifying global transformations have led to the spread of religious extremism and jihadist movements. In the United States, there was the Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001and similar attacks in Britain, Spain and other parts of Europe within the same period. Since 2011, sectarian clashes have lingered in northern Lebanon following the arrest of a Lebanese Islamist linked to the Syrian uprising. In Africa, the Boko Haram Islamic sect with known religious preferences and belief system has occasioned national security crisis in Nigeria. In Mali, the Tuareg fighters with support from Al-Qaeda have stoked a simmering rebellion in the country. All this has created global security challenges which threaten the security of nation-states and their citizens. This paper seeks to establish the nexus between globalization and the spread of religious extremism and how it poses a threat to global security.