Spreading of Salafism in Africa: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Tools of Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy

Spreading of Salafism in Africa: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Tools of Saudi Arabia's Foreign Policy

Saudi Arabia

Africa

Salafism

religion in foreign policy

religious diplomacy

foreign policy tools

foreign policy strategies

foreign relations

The role and importance of religion in many countries' foreign policy seemto be rising again. Many scholars have shown that Saudi Arabia uses thespread of religion, specifically Salafi Islam, as a tool for its foreign policy andto strengthen its influence. Saudi Arabia is a crucial player in the MENAregion and the entire Islamic world, and its regional and internationalimportance is constantly increasing. The author considers understandingSaudi Arabia’s activities and its foreign policy strategies, mechanisms, andtools in Africa as very important, as Africa is becoming an arena for newpowers once again. The article aims to identify how Saudi Arabia penetratesAfrican states and spreads Salafism. It focuses on analyzing Saudi foreignpolicy, emphasizing the role of religion and its export. The author analyzesSaudi Arabia's relations with five selected African states, where Salafism isspreading, in the period from 2015 to the present.

Svoboda, Daniel

Czech Journal of International Relations; Vol. 56 No. 3 (2021); 39-71

2788-2993

2788-2985

10.32422/mv-cjir.56.3

Institute of International Relations Prague

2021-09-01

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0

application/pdf

eng

info:eu-repo/semantics/article

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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