The Hydra of Jihadism

After the »IS« lay in ruins and »Caliph« al-Baghdadi was killed by US troops in October 2019, the »war on terror« seemed to be over once again. But jihadism has long since become a global movement incorporating dozens of organisations – and it cannot be dealt with by brute force alone.

Asiem El Difraoui has been following this development as a filmmaker, journalist and scholar for three decades. He met bin Laden's comrades-in-arms in Khartoum and PR strategists who produced propaganda videos in Berlin-Charlottenburg. He has witnessed the terrorisation of the population in war zones like Bosnia, Iraq or Afghanistan first-hand. And time and again, terrorism has also come to him, the Paris attacks in 1995 and 2015, for example, which were carried out in his own neighbourhood.

With profound knowledge, Difraoui vividly describes how jihadism came into being, how its thought patterns and PR strategies have changed and from what the Hydra draws its power. What makes this deadly ideology attractive, especially for young people in Europe? What part does the West and the media play in its success? And how can its power be broken? A stirring appeal to confront one of the greatest threats of the present.

»Asiem El Difraoui has a very rare ability: He can convey knowledge. He thinks academically, but writes in such a way that the general public understands him.« Gilles Kepel

»Asiem El Difraoui exposes himself to images and themes that are frightening and disturbing in order to confront them with analytical reason and to communicate them coherently to the public.« Caroline Fetscher, Der Tagesspiegel

»[The Hydra] abhors nothing more than the rule of law, political participation and consistent action against marginalisation and exclusion. It thrives when hate preachers and professionally prepared propaganda come up against young people without prospects. The author supports this thesis with many impressive snapshots.« Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, Süddeutsche Zeitung

»Asiem El Difraoui’s book is a warning and a wake-up call.« Rainer Hermann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»In his book The Hydra of Jihadism, Asiem El Difraoui [traces] the genesis of terror in the name of Islam. With the expertise gained over roughly three decades, he succeeds in this task expertly and confidently ...« Jan Kuhlmann, Internationale Politik

»A book that explains this brutal phenomenon well and comprehensively and makes it understandable without stripping it of its horror.« Abdul-Ahmad Rashid, Deutschlandfunk Kultur