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No matter how unlikely it may seem, radical Leftists and Islamists have come closer in recent years. Drawing on substantial ideological interchange, and operating at both state and non-state levels, the two movements are building a Common Front against the United States and its allies. In this article, we use framing theory to examine the contemporary convergence of political Islam and the radical Left. Both radical Leftists and Islamists have utilized the master frame of anti-globalization/anti-capitalism and the master frame of anti-colonialism/anti-imperialism to elicit support from the widest possible range of people. The emerging Red-Green alliance presents a complex challenge that will require careful attention from U.S. and European policymakers.

Notes

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Ibid.

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B. Lawrence (see note 23 above), 240.

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C. Leuprecht, T. Hataley, S. Moskalenko, and C. McCauley, “Containing the Narrative: Strategy and Tactics in Countering the Storyline of Global Jihad,” Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism 5, no. 1 (2010): 47.

On the Red-Green partnership in the United Kingdom see R. Lambert, “Salafi and Islamist Londoners: Stigmatised Minority Faith Communities Countering al-Qaeda,” Crime, Law and Social Change 50 (2008): 73–89.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emmanuel Karagiannis

Emmanuel Karagiannis is an assistant professor of Russian and post-Soviet politics at the University of Macedonia's Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies in Greece.

Clark McCauley

Clark McCauley is a Rachel C. Hale Professor of Sciences and Mathematics and co-director of the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College. He is founding editor of the journal Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict.

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