Tweet

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

30 Sep, 5 tweets, 1 min read

A confession that I want to approach respectfully (but honestly). When I compare the radicalization story of my (20-year younger) former self to the radicalization stories of people who got sucked into white supremacism, one main difference really surprises me

What truly surprised me was that while my sense of grievance (as a Palestinian Arab Muslim kid growing up in the Middle East) was based upon real, hard stuff. Meanwhile theirs was based upon "feeling" persecuted. It just seems to me that what broke my psyche was far heavier stuff

Obviously this is a very personal observation and I could be very wrong. It could be that I'm not empathetic enough with their experiences; or these experiences could be distant. I only intimately know my own story. I'm just putting this out there to see how right or wrong I am

But interesting to ask this question at scale. Are people who get radicalized due to immense pressure more de-radicalizable than those who get radicalized absent immense pressure? After all if it's immense pressure, the pressure can ease or normalize or counter-balance somehow

*In 2015 (in the context of ISIS) I noted that people who get radicalized due to "local grievances" (family killed, displaced from homes, property stolen etc) are actually *less* ideological and more de-radicalizable than the foreign fighters who are coming from Western countries

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @iyad_elbaghdadi

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

27 Sep

A big part of my daily reading/writing is about the future (as a strategist, this is what I do). Lately, this is leaving me with a deep feeling of sadness. The MENA lies at the intersection of every bad trend that defines humanity's future yet is not part of the conversation.

Climate change? Water stress? Ecology collapse? Desertification? Food security? Refugee & migrant movements? Economic inequality? Social inequality? Demographic transitions? Mental health? Intergenerational trauma? We're at the nexus of all of them

And yet we're locked out of the conversation because we are led by dictatorships gripped by strategic nihilism, dictators who no longer care about the future of the region, only about the future survival of their power and privilege. They're sending us to hell and we have no say

Read 6 tweets

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

23 Sep

How do you prefer to get informed, on a day-to-day basis?
- Threads
- Newsletters
- Podcasts
- Videos (Youtube, etc)
- Articles
- Books
- TV
- Other?

(If you leave a reply, please also retweet)

I have to admit I am developing a preference for threads because they are compact. There's just *so* much information to consume daily that I no longer have the patience for long-form narrative/storytelling formats (except perhaps as a downtine activity)

Read 4 tweets

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

21 Sep

For some reason, over the past few weeks I've been fascinated by Flat Earther videos (did quite a number on my Youtube homepage). I guess I should write a bit about what I saw but here's a few quick thoughts

1. It's a modern movement. They aren't holdovers from a previous historical or traditional movement. This tells you something - if this is a modern movement then the reasons it exists are also modern issues

2. They actually *do* seem to obsess over "evidence". Only, they twist it around in a clever way. "Evidence" for them is redefined to "whatever can change my mind" (and since nothing can, then problem solved)

Read 9 tweets

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

11 Sep

Optimism is not a plan. Anger is not power. Euphoria is not a national vision. Emotions are not a roadmap.

Mental prisons are more oppressive than physical prisons. And the worst prisons are those we build for ourselves

I'm a strategist. My job is to live in the future. To look at the big picture, to see everything as a trend, to think 20 moves ahead (and 20 years ahead). My brain is wired this way now.

Read 10 tweets

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

1 Sep

Should I lift weights at the end of a 48 hour fast? Assuming I'll eat right after

Ok, I won't. It's not a function of "energy" btw but of electrolytes + hydration. Easy way to get a cramp.

Maybe something softer today, like yoga or a stretching routine

Read 4 tweets

İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي

@iyad_elbaghdadi

30 Aug

Very quick stream of consciousness (again), apologies in advance for all the typos, mistakes, inaccuracies etc. Among Islamist militants there have been (generally) two models:

The Caliphate model calls for the establishment of a global empire (although they'll resent the word "empire"). The Emirate model calls for the establishment of local rule (a state with limited borders) and a governance model, sometimes as the goal, sometimes as a start.

ISIS generally represents the first model. The Taliban represents the second model. ISIS refers to itself as Dawlat al-Khilafa (the Caliphate state). The Taliban's official name for Afghanistan is "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".

Read 12 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!