Virginia Comolli is the Research Associate for Transnational Threats at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.
Virginia Comoll's book, lucid and well informed, has to be
considered the standard work on Boko Haram, a movement of
fast-growing importance.
*Stephen Ellis, Desmond Tutu Professor, Free University, Amsterdam
and author of 'External Mission: The ANC in Exile, 1960-1990'*
In a book that combines detailed research with rigorous analysis,
Virginia Comolli traces the origins and evolution of Boko Haram as
a local, regional and transnational security threat, conveying in
clear and accessible terms the complexities of this poorly
understood phenomenon. This is an important book for anyone
concerned about Africa, jihadism or international security
challenges in general.
*Nigel Inkster, Director of Transnational Threats and Political
Risk, IISS, and former Director of Operations and Intelligence for
the British Secret Intelligence Service*
Virginia Comolli's book will be invaluable to policy makers
confronting the challenge of Boko Haram. Her approach is
comprehensive and critical. Her exposition of the theological roots
of Boko Haram and their northern Nigerian setting provides a new
and more sophistical level of analysis of where the movement comes
from and where it is going.
*John Campbell, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy
Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), New York, and
former US Ambassador to Nigeria*
[Comolli's] book is a thoroughly researched and carefully judged
antidote to the very shallow media and Nigerian government
explanations for the insurgency. In immense detail, with a very
full bibliography of sources and much original interview material,
Virginia Comolli has assembled much fascinating and illuminating
information on the historical, cultural, political and
socio-economic roots of the movement and its relationship with
mainstream but also sectarian Islam in Nigeria.
*African Arguments*
Virginia Comolli's book is a must-read for anyone seeking to
understand Nigeria or militant Islam in Africa. Grounded in the
political history of the country and in local social, ethnic,
economic, and ideational context, [her] analysis debunks facile
stereotypes about Boko Haram and the pan-jihadi threat in Africa
and dissects the multiple causes of the insurgency, its shape, and
evolution. Of high policy relevance, the book persuasively shows
how long-term as well as current policies of the Nigerian
government generated many of the root causes of the discontent of
Nigeria’s north and worsened the insurgency.
*Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and
author of 'Aspiration and Ambivalence: Strategies and Realities of
Counterinsurgency and State-building in Afghanistan'*
Boko Haram is one of the fastest evolving Islamist militant
movements in the world today. In the span of just a few years, it
has transformed itself from a localised group active in a remote
corner of Nigeria into a full-fledged insurgency threatening not
only to Africa's most populous country and its biggest economy, but
also the security of the subregion. Virginia Comolli's book offers
both policymakers and analysts a comprehensive introduction to an
increasingly important, but poorly understood, phenomenon, one
rooted in cultural history and religious belief as well political,
economic, and social marginalization and the failure of governance.
Even those who will find themselves at disagreement with some of
the author's conclusions will nevertheless find her meticulous
exposition an invaluable resource.
*J. Peter Pham, Director of the Africa Center, Atlantic Council,
and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Middle East and
Africa*
Boko Haram: simply the latest in Nigeria's many millenarian
movements, or something new? Virginia Comolli offers unique insight
into the Islamist movements origins, while providing answers to
other key questions: Why has the Nigerian army has performed so
poorly against this threat, and how might Boko Haram be
defeated?
*Greg Mills, Director of the Brenthurst Foundation, Johannesburg,
and author of 'Why States Recover: Changing Walking Societies into
Winning Nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe'*
This book combines detailed research with rigorous analysis as it
traces the origins and evolution of Boko Haram . . . It conveys in
clear terms the complexities of the Boko Haram insurgency, as well
as the pitfalls encountered by the Nigerian state
*H.E. Mrs U. Joy Ogwu, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the
United Nations*
[This] is an expertly analysed work which successfully condenses
the myriad of information on Boko Haram . . . making it into a
compendium for referencing by 'Boko Haram-watchers'.
*Africa at LSE*
[Comolli] provides a more detailed portrait than any of her
predecessors of the history and personality of the movement's
founder, Mohammed Yusuf. . . . Comolli has written an interesting
book filled with new information and ideas. Especially noteworthy
is her explanation of the cyclical nature of militant movements in
Nigeria. Moreover, there are many important details that are
revealed in the numerous interviews she conducted. Comolli's work
is a comprehensive, well-documented piece of scholarship and
presents readers with an impressive analysis of Boko Haram.
*Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs*
It is valuable to have Virginia Comolli's thoughtful and
wide-ranging account of [Boko Haram], which draws on extensive
conversations with Nigerians of many backgrounds, apart from
archival work. … Surprisingly, many aspects of this strictly
contemporary movement are fiercely debated and poorly understood,
and Comolli is a sure-footed guide through the scholarly
battlegrounds.
*Books & Culture*
Comolli's informative book situates Boko Haram . . . within the
complex history of the various radical Islamist groups that have
long existed in the area and explains how the group’s brutality
increased after the death of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, at the
hands of Nigerian security forces in 2009.
*Foreign Affairs*
'The book is well written and reflects the author’s deep
familiarity with Nigeria, making it a valuable contribution to the
literature on Boko Haram.'
‘[A] rich scholarly engagement on the subject which even
non-academic readers will find interesting … Comolli’s analysis,
based on three years of extensive field research and incredible
access to major stakeholders, offers a comprehensive account of the
Boko Haram movement … [the book is] a significant reference for
scholars and students in search of a historical context for the
evolution of not just Boko Haram but also of the recurring trend of
radical Islamic militancy in Nigeria.’
*Africa Studies Review*
Comolli's book will surely become required reading for anyone
seeking to understand Boko Haram, particularly policymakers. It
provides one of the few researched studies on Boko Haram, and where
there are conflicting interpretations, it presents a synopsis of
each, which serves as a literature review that will be useful to
other researchers.
*Journal of Islamic Studies*
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