Jihadi Poetry in Yemen

Published: March 24, 2020, 1 p.m.

This week, Jon Alterman, Will Todman, and McKinley Knoop talk about who joins militant jihadi groups and why. Then, Jon talks with Elisabeth Kendall, an Oxford University-based scholar of Arabic literature who has focused on poetry among Yemeni jihadis. They discuss poetry in Yemen, what makes \u201cgood\u201d jihadi poetry, and differences between al Qaeda and ISIS poetry.\xa0\nJon B. Alterman, Religious Radicalism After the Arab Uprisings, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2015.\nElisabeth Kendall, \u201cMilitant Jihadist Poetry and the Battle for Hearts and Minds,\u201d\xa0The Anglo-Omani Society, 2019.\xa0\nElisabeth Kendall, \u201cContemporary Jihadi Militancy in Yemen: How is the Threat Evolving,\u201d Middle East Institute, July 2018.