Jacob Zenn
Biographic Data
| ID | 1493849 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jacob Zenn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jacob |
| FAMILY NAME | Zenn |
| SIGNATURE | ZENN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Georgetown University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9090-1918 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 34 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Rage and Carnage in the Name of God: Religious Violence in Nigeria By Abiodun Alao
Boko Haram's Child Soldiers: Media Mujahids, Martyrs, and Militants
This article investigates the lived experiences and roles of children under Boko Haram’s two factions. Unlike case studies of Islamic State “cubs,” children in Boko Haram have been neglected in the literature. Filling that gap, this article analyzes more than thirty videos and photograph sets from the two factions. Visual ethnography is utilized to examine material depicting children in both “staged” and “unstaged” roles in Boko Haram, and in way…
Boko Haram’s Beginnings: Guantánamo Detainee Assessment Revelations on Diaspora Nigerian Jihadists in Saudi Arabia
This article centers on the Guantánamo detainee assessment of diaspora Nigerian jihadist in Saudi Arabia, Umran Bakr Muhammad Hausawi (Umran), which has never been cited previously in literature on Boko Haram. Through analyzing this detainee assessment alongside Boko Haram founding members’ interviews, al-Qaeda publications about Boko Haram’s founders, media reports contemporaneous with Boko Haram’s founding, US leaked and declassified intelligen…
War on terror 2.0: Threat inflation and conflation of far-right and white supremacist terrorism after the capitol “Insurrection”
This article examines more than 100 scholarly, think-tank, government, and media reports and three data-sets and finds that since the 6 January 2021 Capitol “insurrection”, War on Terror (WoT) 2.0 is conflating far-right, white supremacist extremism (WSE), and other terminologies, which have superseded “Islamic extremism” on the U.S government’s radar. Further, distinctions are not being recognised between violent and anti-violent far-right/WSE g…
Rebel rivals: Reinterrogating the movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa and the roots of Al-Qaeda-Islamic State Infighting in the Sahel
Terrorist group rivalries have become widely studied since Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-loyal groups began clashing in Syria. While existing literature finds such rivalries increase terrorist groups' lethality and longevity, there are few case studies of IS provinces and al-Qaeda affiliates operating in the same geographic area outside the Middle East. One such province-affiliate rivalry that has only recently begun to be explored is between I…
Debates and Controversies over the Legitimacy of “Internet Sources” in Scholarship on Jihadism: The Online Dimension in the Persistence of the “Al-Qaeda Narrative” in Boko Haram Studies
Boko Haram’s founding after 9/11 was under-studied until the group reached its apex in 2015 and became an Islamic State “province.” After 2015, al-Qaeda strategically and ideologically opposed Islamic State-style excessive takfirism (excommunication) and published documents on Twitter and Telegram revealing longer-standing alliances with, and more moderating influences on, Nigerian jihadist factions than was previously known. Concurrently, in 201…
Academic questions on jihadist sources, analysis, and networks: A rejoinder to will Reno onUnmasking Boko Haram
This article responds to Will Reno’s review of my book, Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria, in issue 32, 1, 2021 of Small Wars and Insurgencies by examining source validity, analytical frameworks, and international networks related to Boko Haram and jihadism more generally. The purpose of the book was to provide a more ‘panoramic view’ of Boko Haram’s emergence and evolution based on original research and newly introduced sou…
Boko Haram's Factional Feuds: Internal Extremism and External Interventions
This article examines the factions, leadership, and internal organization of Boko Haram, the terrorist group which has operated to devastating effect in parts of northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. It finds the group’s leadership has been significantly more centralized than previous literature has acknowledged. The leadership was also extremely ruthless but enforced group cohesion by killing anyone who sought to defect. Group members att…
Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria
The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok, Nigeria, in 2014 drew the world's attention to the previously little-known extremist group Boko Haram. Numerous questions followed, among them: Where did Boko Haram come from? What explains the rise of this militant Islamic group and its increasingly violent actions? What is its relationship to the Islamic State? Jacob Zenn addresses these questions in his detailed chronicle of the fou…
Chronicling the Boko Haram Decade in Nigeria (2010-2020): Distinguishing Factions Through Videographic Analysis
Boko Haram videos are among the only windows into the group leadership’s ideology. However, previous studies of Boko Haram videos treated the group monolithically and neither distinguished between internal factions nor analyzed cinematographic settings in each faction’s videos. At a time when the two groups known as Boko Haram–Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jamaat Ahlussunnah lid-Dawa wal-Jihad (JAS)–rival each other and combat…
Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement
Alexander Thurston’s book on Boko Haram, Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement, provides the most comprehensive account yet of one of the most important events in Boko Haram’s his
Boko Haram's Conquest for the Caliphate: How Al Qaeda Helped Islamic State Acquire Territory
This article explains how Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)–trained Nigerian militants split from Boko Haram and formed a new group called Ansaru in 2011 after consulting with AQIM. Ansaru leaders, however, reintegrated with Boko Haram and transferred their specialized skills in kidnappings, suicide bombings, and media to Boko Haram and contributed to the group's conquest of territory in 2013. Al Qaeda did not benefit from these conquests be…
Under the Black Flag in Borno: Experiences of foot soldiers and civilians in Boko Haram's 'caliphate
Boko Haram's operations and ideology have been the subject of increasing research in recent years. This article, in contrast, explores the culture of Boko Haram through an ethnographic analysis of the group's internal videos that were not intended for public release. The authors find that in their everyday lives Boko Haram foot soldiers are different from the image the group presents to the world in propaganda videos. While unmistakably a violent…
The Boko Haram Paradox: Ethnicity, Religion, and Historical Memory in Pursuit of a Caliphate
To Boko Haram, Nigeria is a colonial construct, lacking Islamic legitimacy and destined to lead society in a downward spiral of Western immorality. The only way to regain northern Nigeria’s former glory is through a repudiation of democracy, constitutionalism, and Western values and a return to Islamic governance on the model of the historic caliphates. We argue that Boko Haram’s leaders draw their inspiration and legitimacy from Usman Dan Fodio’…
Boko Haram's Conquest for the Caliphate: How Al Qaeda Helped Islamic State Acquire Territory
This article explains how Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)–trained Nigerian militants split from Boko Haram and formed a new group called Ansaru in 2011 after consulting with AQIM. Ansaru leaders, however, reintegrated with Boko Haram and transferred their specialized skills in kidnappings, suicide bombings, and media to Boko Haram and contributed to the group's conquest of territory in 2013. Al Qaeda did not benefit from these conquests be…
The Boko Haram Paradox: Ethnicity, Religion, and Historical Memory in Pursuit of a Caliphate
To Boko Haram, Nigeria is a colonial construct, lacking Islamic legitimacy and destined to lead society in a downward spiral of Western immorality. The only way to regain northern Nigeria’s former glory is through a repudiation of democracy, constitutionalism, and Western values and a return to Islamic governance on the model of the historic caliphates. We argue that Boko Haram’s leaders draw their inspiration and legitimacy from Usman Dan Fodio’…
Under the Black Flag in Borno: Experiences of foot soldiers and civilians in Boko Haram's 'caliphate
Boko Haram's operations and ideology have been the subject of increasing research in recent years. This article, in contrast, explores the culture of Boko Haram through an ethnographic analysis of the group's internal videos that were not intended for public release. The authors find that in their everyday lives Boko Haram foot soldiers are different from the image the group presents to the world in propaganda videos. While unmistakably a violent…
War on terror 2.0: Threat inflation and conflation of far-right and white supremacist terrorism after the capitol “Insurrection”
This article examines more than 100 scholarly, think-tank, government, and media reports and three data-sets and finds that since the 6 January 2021 Capitol “insurrection”, War on Terror (WoT) 2.0 is conflating far-right, white supremacist extremism (WSE), and other terminologies, which have superseded “Islamic extremism” on the U.S government’s radar. Further, distinctions are not being recognised between violent and anti-violent far-right/WSE g…
Rebel rivals: Reinterrogating the movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa and the roots of Al-Qaeda-Islamic State Infighting in the Sahel
Terrorist group rivalries have become widely studied since Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-loyal groups began clashing in Syria. While existing literature finds such rivalries increase terrorist groups' lethality and longevity, there are few case studies of IS provinces and al-Qaeda affiliates operating in the same geographic area outside the Middle East. One such province-affiliate rivalry that has only recently begun to be explored is between I…
Boko Haram's Child Soldiers: Media Mujahids, Martyrs, and Militants
This article investigates the lived experiences and roles of children under Boko Haram’s two factions. Unlike case studies of Islamic State “cubs,” children in Boko Haram have been neglected in the literature. Filling that gap, this article analyzes more than thirty videos and photograph sets from the two factions. Visual ethnography is utilized to examine material depicting children in both “staged” and “unstaged” roles in Boko Haram, and in way…
Boko Haram's Factional Feuds: Internal Extremism and External Interventions
This article examines the factions, leadership, and internal organization of Boko Haram, the terrorist group which has operated to devastating effect in parts of northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. It finds the group’s leadership has been significantly more centralized than previous literature has acknowledged. The leadership was also extremely ruthless but enforced group cohesion by killing anyone who sought to defect. Group members att…
Chronicling the Boko Haram Decade in Nigeria (2010-2020): Distinguishing Factions Through Videographic Analysis
Boko Haram videos are among the only windows into the group leadership’s ideology. However, previous studies of Boko Haram videos treated the group monolithically and neither distinguished between internal factions nor analyzed cinematographic settings in each faction’s videos. At a time when the two groups known as Boko Haram–Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jamaat Ahlussunnah lid-Dawa wal-Jihad (JAS)–rival each other and combat…
The Boko Haram Paradox: Ethnicity, Religion, and Historical Memory in Pursuit of a Caliphate
To Boko Haram, Nigeria is a colonial construct, lacking Islamic legitimacy and destined to lead society in a downward spiral of Western immorality. The only way to regain northern Nigeria’s former glory is through a repudiation of democracy, constitutionalism, and Western values and a return to Islamic governance on the model of the historic caliphates. We argue that Boko Haram’s leaders draw their inspiration and legitimacy from Usman Dan Fodio’…
Boko Haram's Conquest for the Caliphate: How Al Qaeda Helped Islamic State Acquire Territory
This article explains how Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)–trained Nigerian militants split from Boko Haram and formed a new group called Ansaru in 2011 after consulting with AQIM. Ansaru leaders, however, reintegrated with Boko Haram and transferred their specialized skills in kidnappings, suicide bombings, and media to Boko Haram and contributed to the group's conquest of territory in 2013. Al Qaeda did not benefit from these conquests be…
Under the Black Flag in Borno: Experiences of foot soldiers and civilians in Boko Haram's 'caliphate
Boko Haram's operations and ideology have been the subject of increasing research in recent years. This article, in contrast, explores the culture of Boko Haram through an ethnographic analysis of the group's internal videos that were not intended for public release. The authors find that in their everyday lives Boko Haram foot soldiers are different from the image the group presents to the world in propaganda videos. While unmistakably a violent…
Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement
Alexander Thurston’s book on Boko Haram, Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement, provides the most comprehensive account yet of one of the most important events in Boko Haram’s his
Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria
The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok, Nigeria, in 2014 drew the world's attention to the previously little-known extremist group Boko Haram. Numerous questions followed, among them: Where did Boko Haram come from? What explains the rise of this militant Islamic group and its increasingly violent actions? What is its relationship to the Islamic State? Jacob Zenn addresses these questions in his detailed chronicle of the fou…
Chronicling the Boko Haram Decade in Nigeria (2010-2020): Distinguishing Factions Through Videographic Analysis
Boko Haram videos are among the only windows into the group leadership’s ideology. However, previous studies of Boko Haram videos treated the group monolithically and neither distinguished between internal factions nor analyzed cinematographic settings in each faction’s videos. At a time when the two groups known as Boko Haram–Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jamaat Ahlussunnah lid-Dawa wal-Jihad (JAS)–rival each other and combat…
Debates and Controversies over the Legitimacy of “Internet Sources” in Scholarship on Jihadism: The Online Dimension in the Persistence of the “Al-Qaeda Narrative” in Boko Haram Studies
Boko Haram’s founding after 9/11 was under-studied until the group reached its apex in 2015 and became an Islamic State “province.” After 2015, al-Qaeda strategically and ideologically opposed Islamic State-style excessive takfirism (excommunication) and published documents on Twitter and Telegram revealing longer-standing alliances with, and more moderating influences on, Nigerian jihadist factions than was previously known. Concurrently, in 201…
Academic questions on jihadist sources, analysis, and networks: A rejoinder to will Reno onUnmasking Boko Haram
This article responds to Will Reno’s review of my book, Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria, in issue 32, 1, 2021 of Small Wars and Insurgencies by examining source validity, analytical frameworks, and international networks related to Boko Haram and jihadism more generally. The purpose of the book was to provide a more ‘panoramic view’ of Boko Haram’s emergence and evolution based on original research and newly introduced sou…
Boko Haram's Factional Feuds: Internal Extremism and External Interventions
This article examines the factions, leadership, and internal organization of Boko Haram, the terrorist group which has operated to devastating effect in parts of northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. It finds the group’s leadership has been significantly more centralized than previous literature has acknowledged. The leadership was also extremely ruthless but enforced group cohesion by killing anyone who sought to defect. Group members att…
Boko Haram’s Beginnings: Guantánamo Detainee Assessment Revelations on Diaspora Nigerian Jihadists in Saudi Arabia
This article centers on the Guantánamo detainee assessment of diaspora Nigerian jihadist in Saudi Arabia, Umran Bakr Muhammad Hausawi (Umran), which has never been cited previously in literature on Boko Haram. Through analyzing this detainee assessment alongside Boko Haram founding members’ interviews, al-Qaeda publications about Boko Haram’s founders, media reports contemporaneous with Boko Haram’s founding, US leaked and declassified intelligen…
War on terror 2.0: Threat inflation and conflation of far-right and white supremacist terrorism after the capitol “Insurrection”
This article examines more than 100 scholarly, think-tank, government, and media reports and three data-sets and finds that since the 6 January 2021 Capitol “insurrection”, War on Terror (WoT) 2.0 is conflating far-right, white supremacist extremism (WSE), and other terminologies, which have superseded “Islamic extremism” on the U.S government’s radar. Further, distinctions are not being recognised between violent and anti-violent far-right/WSE g…
Rebel rivals: Reinterrogating the movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa and the roots of Al-Qaeda-Islamic State Infighting in the Sahel
Terrorist group rivalries have become widely studied since Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-loyal groups began clashing in Syria. While existing literature finds such rivalries increase terrorist groups' lethality and longevity, there are few case studies of IS provinces and al-Qaeda affiliates operating in the same geographic area outside the Middle East. One such province-affiliate rivalry that has only recently begun to be explored is between I…
Boko Haram's Child Soldiers: Media Mujahids, Martyrs, and Militants
This article investigates the lived experiences and roles of children under Boko Haram’s two factions. Unlike case studies of Islamic State “cubs,” children in Boko Haram have been neglected in the literature. Filling that gap, this article analyzes more than thirty videos and photograph sets from the two factions. Visual ethnography is utilized to examine material depicting children in both “staged” and “unstaged” roles in Boko Haram, and in way…
Rage and Carnage in the Name of God: Religious Violence in Nigeria By Abiodun Alao
Law (13 works) · Political science (13 works) · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence (13 works) · Politics (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Boko haram (10 works) · Criminology (10 works) · Insurgency (9 works) · History (7 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (7 works)