| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Western scholars of jihadi strategic studies traditionally concentrate either on ideological-strategic or on tactical questions. This intellectual disposition overlooks operational art-an important layer of knowledge between strategy and tactics. Despite the absence of the term from classical jihadi literature, the discourse in the Salafi jihadi strategic studies community is replete with discussions related to it. Neither "small strategy" nor "grand tactics," operational art is a separate domain of knowledge. It serves as a framework for formulating principles of war, concrete fighting doctrines and integrates ends, methods, and means across all spheres of war-fighting. This article contributes to the Western scholarly understanding of Salafi strategic behavior by outlining a research program that will follow this overlooked development in jihadi military thought.
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