James Schneider of New African Magazine and I joined Monocle 24’s The Globalist on Monday morning to talk about the claimed “pledge of allegiance” by the Nigerian insurgency Boko Haram to the Islamic State over the weekend.

Last month, Schneider and I were cautious about the notion of a Boko Haram-Islamic State “alliance” in practice, so The Globalist’s Emma Nelson opened by asking, “Were we wrong?”

See also Nigeria Feature: Has Boko Haram Pledged Allegiance to Islamic State?
EA Audio Analysis: Have Boko Haram and Islamic State Established an Alliance? (No.)

The discussion uses that challenge to consider the significance of Boko Haram’s statement within the contexts of Nigeria’s insurgency and forthcoming elections, the Islamic State’s projection of a “caliphate”, and the notion of a “global jihadist movement”.

Listen from 4:13: