Revolutionary Warfare? Assessing the Character of Competing Factions within the Boko Haram Insurgency

The respective politico-military characters of the competing factions within the Boko Haram insurgency have not received as much academic attention as other features of the Boko Haram phenomenon. This article uses the concept of “revolutionary warfare” to examine and compare the two main factions. Traditionally applied to Marxist movements, this conceptualization is increasingly associated with violent Jihadist groups who combine a revolutionary ideology with a strategy based on winning popular support and a growing ability to militarily beat conventional forces. It argues that the “Islamic State West Africa Province” faction has adopted a revolutionary warfare approach based on increasingly sophisticated semi-conventional warfare and a simultaneous drive to win popular support. The Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad faction, while equally revolutionary in its goals, appears, for doctrinal reasons and due to pressure from the military, to be operating in contrast to key revolutionary warfare precepts

Boko haram · Conceptualization · Criminology · Guerrilla warfare · Ideology · Insurgency · Islam · Marxist philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Terrorism · Computer Science · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

• Examining convergence and divergence in the fighting patterns of Islamic State-aligned jihadist groups in the wider Sahel

  Open Access•Isaac Olawale Albert, Chitra Nagarajan et al.•The Journal of Modern African…•2026

  Incluir item

• Between the Hammer and the Anvil

  B Dobos, Martin Riegl•Civil Wars•2021

  Incluir item

• (Dis)utilities of Force in a Postcolonial Context

  Open Access•Éloïse Bertrand, Tony Chafer et al.•Journal of Intervention and…•2023

  Incluir item

• Maoist Hybridity? A Comparative Analysis of the Links between Insurgent Strategic Practice and Tactical Hybridity in Contemporary Non-State Armed Groups

  Edward Stoddard•Studies in Conflict and Terrorism•2020

  Incluir item

• Boko Haram

  Emma Leonard Boyle•African Security Review•2023

  Incluir item

• Nigerian Troops in the War Against Boko Haram

  Open Access•Temitope B Oriola•Armed Forces & Society•2023

  Incluir item

• Beyond poverty fixation

  P Okeke-Ihejirika, Temitope B Oriola et al.•Third World Quarterly•2020

  Incluir item

• Historical Memory Matters

  Open Access•Jennifer Lofkrantz, Bréma Ely Dicko et al.•African Studies Review•2025

  Incluir item

• The message and methods of Boko Haram

  Open Access•Kyari Mohammed•Boko Haram•2014

  Incluir item

• How revolutionary are Jihadist insurgencies? The case of Isil

  Paul B Rich•Jihadist Insurgent Movements•2017

  Incluir item

• The Islamic State and the Return of Revolutionary Warfare

  Craig Whiteside•Jihadist Insurgent Movements•2017

  Incluir item

• Building the Base

  Kenneth Payne•Studies in Conflict and Terrorism•2011

  Incluir item

• Anatomy of the Salafi Movement

  Quintan Wiktorowicz•Studies in Conflict and Terrorism•2006

  Incluir item

• Stealing Al Qaeda's Playbook

  Jarret M Brachman, Jarret Brachman et al.•Studies in Conflict and Terrorism•2006

  Incluir item

• Out of the Mountains

  Philip Towle•The Round Table•2016

  Incluir item

• The Third Generation of Guerrilla Warfare

  Chalmers Johnson•Asian Survey•1968

  Incluir item

• The Islamic State and the Return of Revolutionary Warfare

  Craig Whiteside•Small Wars and Insurgencies•2016

  Incluir item