205 Palmerino Cuneo Terrorism and organised crime: The system of “permanent… framework to all these non-state illicit actors99, the true winners of globalisation. The centrality of power as a form of control over primary resources and their supply chains still constitutes the central pillar and the trigger of geopolitical competition, where globalised post-modernity gives rise to these new warriors, alliances and methods of “combat”100. Seen from this angle, it is therefore essential to decipher the real “para-digm” of Islam that inspires terrorism in the time/space context of the Sahel, because in accordance with Alice Martini101, each “regime of truth” is the product of relations of power that exist within a specific context and, as already pointed out by Michael Foucault, there is always a direct relationship between the creation of knowledge and power102, and wherever there is power, there is “resistance”. The “trivialisation” of terrorism is a luxury we cannot afford, and the narrative that is often used to categorise and simplify a conflict down to an ethnic or religious cause is reminiscent of a “clash of civilisations” à la Huntington, requiring a holistic interpretation that ignores complexity and thereby rejects geopolitical analysis itself. Moreover, the use of this simplification can give rise to thoughts (and strategic agen-das) on the essence of the conflicts which often do not serve to interpret, but rather to predict the same historical event. Thus, if on the one hand the so-called “ethnic conflicts” that the two Sudans are experiencing are competitions of a political, economic and social nature ignited by ethnic considerations, one should look for the same factors behind the jihadist phe-nomenon instead of treating it as a “holy” war – much as its ideological totem seems more globalised103. Simplification under the ethnic or religious banner simultaneously allows justifying the most disparate alliances in the Sahel, so that tribal gangs become freedom fighters, traffickers or terrorists according to the circumstances. Jihadist terrorism, whose brands are trying to achieve the universal ideological mo-nopoly of the movement, does not bear any direct relation to Islam. As a movement of radical eversion to obtain socio-political power, jihadism instrumentalises the Islamic religion which — not being monolithical — gives rise to multiple interpretations and facilitates subjective deviations. Thus Jihad is turned into an instrument to legitimise subversive political action and becomes a tool of almost infinite recruitment which feeds on the socio-economic breeding ground of the Sahel, where the positive effects 99 NÚÑEZ, VILLAVERDE, Jesús. “Guerras de ayer, de hoy y de mañana”, Esglobal, 10 May 2016 Available at: https://www.esglobal.org/guerras-de-ayer-y-de-manana/ (consulted on: 4 May 2018). 100 For more on this topic, see KLARE, Michael. The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2012. 101 MARTINI, Alice. “Terrorismo, un enfoque crítico”, Relaciones Internacionales, Grupo de Estudios de Relaciones Internacionales (GERI) – UAM, n.28, 2015, p.193. 102 FOUCAULT, Michael. Microfísica del poder. La Piqueta: Madrid, 1992, p.187. 103 GARCÍA, ALMEIDA, Fernando. “Reflexión sobre los conflictos étnicos y el desarrollo en el África Subsahariana”, Estudios Geográficos, vol.72, n.270, 2011, p.27. Available at: https://goo.gl/Qrx4Kq (consulted on: 5 May 2018). Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 13 - Año: 2019 - Págs.: 181 a 212
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