Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) carries a complicated history of terrorist violence in Northern Africa. The colonial influences on Africa are a long-standing cause of the focus of organizations such as AQIM on Western and European interests. Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, AQIM's current leader, has not only published threats against citizens and countries outside of Algeria, but has carried out attacks in seven countries, targeting citizens of Europe and Africa, causing more than 5,000 fatalities, injuries, and kidnappings. Unlike other Salafi jihadist organizations allied with al Qaeda, AQIM interacts with criminal organizations in activities such as drug smuggling for South American drug cartels. Using equipment, weapons, uniforms, passports, and vehicles captured from attacks in conjunction with vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers, the AQIM threat continues to gather momentum. AQIM is also known to have SA-7 man-portable air-defense systems and anti-tank guided missiles. From drug trade funds and kidnap ransoms, it is estimated that AQIM has an annual operating budget of $10 million. AQIM has become the wealthiest of al Qaeda affiliates, using that wealth in a hearts-and-minds campaign among the residents of the Sahara-Sahel region. In terms of revenue, that places AQIM between a small pharmaceutical company and a steel manufacturer, and within the top 1,000 for employment opportunities. Generations of discontent youth in the Maghreb combined with warlords and criminal networks provides an ideal environment from which AQIM can recruit, indoctrinate, and train as well as establish numerous criminal allies. Counterterrorist organizations and other international resources must synchronize and focus efforts that detour recruitment efforts of AQIM, prevent further expansion, capture its resources and leadership, and ultimately dissolve the organization.

Rebranded in 2007, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is the latest incarnation of Algerian radical Islamism. Initially focused on attacks with great political resonance against Algerian governmental and military targets, the group has progressively shifted its priorities, alongside its geographical and operational features. In the past few years, the countries of the Sahel region (Mauritania, Malì, Niger, Chad) have been increasingly affected by AQIM's actions. This geographical shift was the result both of a weakening of AQIM within Algeria, due to the tough counter-terrorist measures adopted by the regime, and of the "business opportunities" and the wider operational freedom offered by the Sahelian environment. The aim of this paper is to briefly address a series of questions concerning AQIM's "Sahelization" and its consequences for Algerian foreign policy.

The contributors examine whether the challenge presented to al-Qaeda by Islamic State heralds a tectonic shift in international jihadism

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb emerged from a decades-long militant Islamist tradition in Algeria. Gradually, the GSPC evolved to encompass global jihadist ideology in addition to its historical focus on overturning the Algerian state. In 2006, the GSPC officially affiliated with al Qaeda core, soon rebranding itself as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. AQIM continues to make its presence known through smuggling operations, kidnappings, and clashes with security forces in the desert. In the coming years, general instability within the region could allow AQIM to further expand its influence.

Insurgencies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere the majority linked to al Qaeda are in the news on an almost daily basis. But very little surfaces about a festering insurgency that has been on the go for six years in West Africa under the acronym of AQIM, or al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. This low-level series of guerrilla conflicts is widespread and sporadic, covering an area as vast as Europe. Nigeria has been drawn into the equation because its Boko Haram insurgent faction maintains close ties with AQIM and Islamic State.For now though, the focus is on Mali where several jihadist groups despite formal peace agreements remain active. Involved is the French army and air force as well as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) as well as the European Union Capacity Building Mission (EUCAP).The insurrection that fostered all this broke out early 2012 when President Franois Hollande announced the beginning of Operation Serval. Five hours later the first squadrons of French Gazelle helicopter gunships began attacking Islamist columns. A day later French fighter jets based in Chad, almost 2,000 kilometers away, were making sorties against rebel ground targets in northern Mali.