The Islamic State’s Provinces on the Periphery: Juxtaposing the Pledges from Boko Haram in Nigeria and Abu Sayyaf and Maute Group in the Philippines

Despite the loss of territories in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State’s “provinces” have all remained loyal to the organization’s “core” and its Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Boko Haram’s successor, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the jihadists in the Philippines in the Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf, which were labeled “East Asia”, have both continued coordinating with the Islamic State. ISWAP now not only fields Caucasian foreign fighter commanders but also receives directives from the Islamic State on matters ranging from negotiations to attack plans while the jihadists in the Philippines would not have engaged in the short-lived conquest of Marawi if not for them taking into account the demands of the Islamic State “core”. Prior to merging with the Islamic State the jihadists in Nigeria and the Philippines restructured their internal organization and proved they could hold territory, which indicated they could meet the conditions the “core” required of them to be designated as provinces. By juxtaposing the relationship of the Islamic State “core” to the jihadists on the peripheries in Nigeria and the Philippines this article demonstrates the importance of the provinces for the Islamic State project and the different ways jihadists in the provinces have interacted with the “core”.