B. V. DOLGOV Candidate of Historical Sciences Islamist movements and their extremist direction-radical Islamism or jihadism (from Arabic. jihad-holy war) continues to be the most significant phenomenon of the XXI century. in many Muslim countries. We will look at the manifestations of Islamism in three North African countries-Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. REASONS FOR THE RISE OF ISLAMISM IN THE MAGHREB The spread and rise of fundamentalist ideology in the Arab-Muslim world and in the Maghreb, in particular, is due to both internal, specific for each country, and external factors. Nevertheless, the general phenomenon characteristic of the internal situation in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the aggravation of socio-economic problems. In Algeria and Tunisia, this happened against the backdrop of a political crisis. As for external factors, they are largely related to the following important events of the last quarter of the 20th century: The first was the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1978-1979), which overthrew the Shah's regime, which was trying to westernize Iran. The Iranian Islamic Revolution was a kind of impulse for the spread and expansion of Islamist concepts in the Muslim world. At the same time, it was definitely limited in nature due to its Shiite dogma, which differs to a certain extent from the Sunni "Islamic project". The second was the civil war in Afghanistan (1979-1992), which attracted thousands of Muslims from all over the Islamic world, including from the Maghreb countries, to join the ranks of the Mujahideen (fighters for the faith), who fought against the Afghan government, who sought to implement the socialist idea in Afghanistan, and the Soviet troops who supported it. During that period, which was characterized by a global confrontation between two superpowers and, accordingly, two military-political blocs, the United States and Saudi Arabia also played a significant role in the formation of the radical win ... Read more