International Relations and political violence: A study of the causes of domestic Jihadist violence in a transatlantic context

Abstract

Two decades after the 9/11 attacks, homegrown jihadist violence (HJV) in the West has almost disappeared, but the causes and conditions fomenting the phenomenon have not changed much. In this paper, I argue that, despite the security services’ ability to physically destroy the structures and networks of HJV in separate national contexts, the spectre of HJV is haunting theWest as a transnational problem. Dealing effectively with this problem requires a comprehensive understanding of the root causes of HJV and its cross-level and transnational origins. This paper examines such causes through the lens of International Relations’ levels of analysis, which allows us to categorize and explain those causes at individual, group, and international levels. The paper seeks to add new insight to the HJV literature and, at the same time, provide a pre-theoretical basis for a broader debate on the causes of this global security problem.