The Jihadi Next Door

The Jihadi Next Door PDF Author: Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 151073287X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
The recruitment of ISIS terrorists may have begun as an extremist crusade in Iraq, but it has quickly become a global phenomenon that is taking hold of people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems. The iconic image of a terrorist as an old, angry, middle-eastern man is long gone. It has since been replaced by young men and women of all races and religious upbringings, in tactical gear and ski masks, carrying heavy artillery. From the outside looking into the Islamic State, most people see these men and women as nothing more than evil terrorists with a psychotic penchant for violence. Internally, they perceive themselves as freedom fighters or mujahedeen, who violate the laws of men to protect their community according to the will of Allah. Ultimately, neither of these perceptions are based in reality. While some experts claim that terrorist recruitment is completely random, criminologist Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco has identified clear patterns which can be used to explain how regular people are being conscripted into terrorism. Using interviews with convicted terrorists, in-depth research and analysis of extremist propaganda, and case-specific details, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco provides nuanced theories into the methods of terrorist recruitment—methods which can be used to identify persons at high risk of being targeted. The Jihadi Next Door provides unprecedented information that can be used to actually combat terrorism. By laying bare the tactics used by ISIS to deceive and exploit new recruits and exposing the veneer these extremists operate under, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco hopes to empower readers with the knowledge needed to prevent future recruitment and thereby preventing acts of terrorism.

The Jihadi Next Door

The Jihadi Next Door PDF Author: Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 151073287X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Get Book Here

Book Description
The recruitment of ISIS terrorists may have begun as an extremist crusade in Iraq, but it has quickly become a global phenomenon that is taking hold of people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems. The iconic image of a terrorist as an old, angry, middle-eastern man is long gone. It has since been replaced by young men and women of all races and religious upbringings, in tactical gear and ski masks, carrying heavy artillery. From the outside looking into the Islamic State, most people see these men and women as nothing more than evil terrorists with a psychotic penchant for violence. Internally, they perceive themselves as freedom fighters or mujahedeen, who violate the laws of men to protect their community according to the will of Allah. Ultimately, neither of these perceptions are based in reality. While some experts claim that terrorist recruitment is completely random, criminologist Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco has identified clear patterns which can be used to explain how regular people are being conscripted into terrorism. Using interviews with convicted terrorists, in-depth research and analysis of extremist propaganda, and case-specific details, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco provides nuanced theories into the methods of terrorist recruitment—methods which can be used to identify persons at high risk of being targeted. The Jihadi Next Door provides unprecedented information that can be used to actually combat terrorism. By laying bare the tactics used by ISIS to deceive and exploit new recruits and exposing the veneer these extremists operate under, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco hopes to empower readers with the knowledge needed to prevent future recruitment and thereby preventing acts of terrorism.

The Terrorist Next Door

The Terrorist Next Door PDF Author: Erick Stakelbeck
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1596986808
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
The threat of terrorism in America, the Obama administration assures us, is contained and controlled. Recent attempted attacks like the Times Square bombing, the “underwear bombing” on a flight over Detroit, and the attack on a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon were all isolated plots that failed anyway. In the words of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, “The system worked.” Don’t believe it. In , investigative reporter Erick Stakelbeck exposes the staggering truth about our national security: the Obama administration is concealing and whitewashing the enormous terrorist threat growing right here within America’s borders. If you believe terrorism is only a problem for other countries, Stakelbeck’s on-the-ground reporting will open your eyes. He has been inside America’s radical mosques, visited U.S.-based Islamic enclaves, and learned about our enemies by going straight to the source—interviewing al-Qaeda-linked terrorists themselves.

The Jihad Next Door

The Jihad Next Door PDF Author: Dina Temple-Raston
Publisher: Public Affairs
ISBN: 158648625X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
They called themselves the Arabian Knights. They were six Yemeni-American friends, a gang of high-school soccer stars, a band of brothers on the grim side streets of Lackawanna's First Ward, just a stone's throw from Buffalo. Later, people would argue about why they left western New York in the spring of 2001 to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Some said they traveled to Afghanistan to become America's first sleeper cell—terrorists slumbering while they awaited orders from on high. Others said that their ill-fated trip was a lark, an adventurous extension of their youthful wrestling with what it meant to be Muslim in America. Dina Temple-Raston returns to Lackawanna to tell the story of a group of young men—born and brought up in small town America—who left otherwise unremarkable lives to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Though they sought to quietly slip back into their roles as middle class Americans, the 9/11 attacks made that impossible. The Jihad Next Door is the story of pre-emptive justice in the age of terror. It follows a handful of ordinary men through an extraordinary time when Muslims in America are often instantly suspect, their actions often viewed through the most sinister lens.

Terrorist Histories

Terrorist Histories PDF Author: Caoimhe Nic Dhaibheid
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317199030
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This book addresses provides a series of in-depth portraits of men and women who have been labelled ‘terrorists’, from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Bridging historical methodologies and theoretical approaches to terrorism studies, it seeks to contribute to the developing historicising of terrorism studies. This is achieved principally through a prosopographical approach. In the preponderance of detailed statistical and quantitative data on the practice of terrorism and political violence, the individuals who participate in terrorist acts are often obscured. While ideologies and organisations have attracted much scholarly interest, less is known of the personal trajectories into political violence, particularly from a historical perspective. The focus on a relatively narrow cast of high-profile terrorist ‘villains’, to a large part driven by popular and media attention, results in a somewhat skewed picture; of equal value, arguably, is a more sustained reflection on the lives of lesser-known individuals. The book sits at the juncture between terrorism studies, historical biography and ethnography. It comprises case studies of ten individuals who have engaged in political violence in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, in a number of locations and with a variety of ideological motivations, from Russian-inflected anarchism to Islamist extremism. Through detailed empirical research, crucial themes in the study of terrorism and political violence are explored: the diverse individual radicalisation pathways, the question of disengagement and re-engagement, various counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency strategies adopted by governments and security forces, and the changing nature and perception of terrorism over time. Although not explicitly comparative, a number of themes resonate between the case studies, which will be drawn together in the conclusion to this book. These include the role of migration in radicalisation, the influence of radical family heritages, the experience of imprisonment and the narratives which individuals construct to tell their own terrorist life-stories. It also provides an historically grounded answer to one of the most contentious and heated debates in recent literature on terrorism studies: ‘what leads a person to turn to political violence?’ In examining the life-narratives of a diverse range of men and women who at some point embraced violence, this book seeks to contribute to a growing understanding of the entire arc of a terrorist lifespan, from radicalisation to mobilisation, to disengagement and beyond. This book will be of much interest to students of political violence, terrorism studies, security studies and politics in general.

The Making of a Homegrown Terrorist

The Making of a Homegrown Terrorist PDF Author: Peter A. Olsson MD
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440831025
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
What are the factors that lead some individuals to become terrorists? In this book, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst examines case histories of terrorism and reveals how radicalized youths living next door can become dangerous homegrown terrorists. Religious zeal and passionate dogma can be powerful motivators for homegrown recruits of terrorist organizations. In this book, Peter A. Olsson, MD, applies his years of work with disordered personalities to the psychological understanding of why seemingly ordinary Americans turn into murderers of their countrymen. He identifies the psychodynamic patterns of the lives of those who become "homegrown terrorists" and commit acts of cold-blooded murder, examining 20 detailed case histories of individuals—often youths or young adults—to provide theoretical and practical understandings. The book focuses on individuals that include Timothy McVeigh; Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. "The Unabomber"; the "Shoe-Bomber" Richard Reid; Colleen LaRose, a.k.a. "Jihad Jane"; Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born, former U.S. Army officer who opened fire on American troops at Fort Hood, Killeen, TX, killing 13 and injuring more than 30; and Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tzarnaev, the two brothers charged with placing pressure cooker bombs at the finish line area of the 2013 Boston Marathon. It also delves into topics such as distinguishing between "good charisma" in a youth versus "evil charisma" and recognizing the characteristics of a healthy group or leader versus those with unhealthy motivations—subject matter that will be of interest and importance to anyone from concerned citizens and parents to teachers and terrorism specialists.

ISIS Exposed

ISIS Exposed PDF Author: Erick Stakelbeck
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
ISBN: 162157377X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The terror masters of ISIS are determined to get America's attention. They’ve humiliated the Iraqi Army we trained and seized territory in Iraq that we had secured at the cost of so many American lives. They’ve beheaded American journalists on camera in a direct challenge to the power and resolve of the United States. And now ISIS is calling for "city wolves" across the United States to act on their dedication to the Islamic State’s blood-drenched ideology and murder innocent American citizens at random. Who is ISIS? Where did it come from, and what is driving its successful campaign of murder and conquest? Our government and our media alike seemed to be blindsided by the Islamic State’s blitzkrieg-like advance, which forced American troops back into Iraq. ISIS has conquered a territory roughly the size of the state of Indiana, rules over eight million terrorized souls, and has even revived the practice of legal slavery. And yet the true motivations, inner workings, and future plans of this terror state and its mysterious caliph seem almost as obscure as when ISIS first burst onto the world scene. In ISIS Exposed, veteran investigative reporter Erick Stakelbeck gets inside the story of the new caliphate and reveals just how clear and present a threat it is.

War and Peace in Somalia

War and Peace in Somalia PDF Author: Michael Keating
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190058013
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
For the last thirty years Somalia has experienced violence and upheaval. Today, the international effort to help Somalis build a federal state and achieve stability is challenged by deep-rooted grievances, local conflicts and a powerful insurgency led by Al-Shabaab. Consisting of forty-four chapters by conflict resolution specialists and the world's leading experts on Somalia, this volume constitutes a unique compendium of insights into the insurgency and its impact. War and Peace in Somalia explores the legacies of past violence, especially impunity, illegitimacy and exclusion, and the need for national reconciliation. Drawing on decades of experience and months of field research, the contributors throw light on diverse forms of local conflict, its interrelated causes, and what can be done about it. They share original research on the role of women, men and youth in the conflict, and present new insight into Al-Shabaab--particularly the group's multi-dimensional strategy, the motivations of its fighters, their foreign links, and the prospects for engagement. This ground-breaking volume illuminates the war in Somalia, and sets out what can and should be done to bring it to an end. For policymakers and researchers covering Somalia, East Africa, extremism or conflict resolution, this is a must-read.

Islamic State’s Online Activity and Responses

Islamic State’s Online Activity and Responses PDF Author: Maura Conway
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000033570
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Islamic State’s Online Activity and Responses provides a unique examination of Islamic State’s online activity at the peak of its "golden age" between 2014 and 2017 and evaluates some of the principal responses to this phenomenon. Featuring contributions from experts across a range of disciplines, the volume examines a variety of aspects of IS’s online activity, including their strategic objectives, the content and nature of their magazines and videos, and their online targeting of females and depiction of children. It also details and analyses responses to IS’s online activity – from content moderation and account suspensions to informal counter-messaging and disrupting terrorist financing – and explores the possible impact of technological developments, such as decentralised and peer-to-peer networks, going forward. Platforms discussed include dedicated jihadi forums, major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and newer services, including Twister. Islamic State’s Online Activity and Responses is essential reading for researchers, students, policymakers, and all those interested in the contemporary challenges posed by online terrorist propaganda and radicalisation. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.

Jihad Joe

Jihad Joe PDF Author: J. M. Berger
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1597976938
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
They are Americans, and they are mujahideen. Hundreds of men from every imaginable background have walked away from the traditional American dream to volunteer for battle in the name of Islam. Some have taken part in foreign wars that aligned with U.S. interests while others have carried out violence against Western interests abroad, fought against the U.S. military, and even plotted terrorist attacks on American soil. This story plays out over decades and continents: from the Americans who took part in the siege of Mecca in 1979 through conflicts in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, and continuing today in Afghanistan and Somalia. Investigative journalist J. M. Berger profiles numerous fighters, including some who joined al Qaeda and others who chose a different path. In these pages he portrays, among others, Abdullah Rashid, who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan; Mohammed Loay Bayazid, who was present at the founding of al Qaeda; Ismail Royer, who fought in Bosnia and Kashmir, then returned to run training camps in the United States; Adam Gadahn, a California Jew who is now al Qaeda's chief spokesman; and Anwar Awlaki, the Yemeni-American imam with links to 9/11 who is now considered one of the biggest threats to America's security.

Asylum Speakers

Asylum Speakers PDF Author: April Ann Shemak
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823233553
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Offering the first interdisciplinary study of refugees in the Caribbean, Central America, and the United States, Asylum Speakers relates current theoretical debates about hospitality and cosmopolitanism to the actual conditions of refugees. In doing so, the author weighs the questions of "truth value" associated with various modes of witnessing to explore the function of testimonial discourse in constructing refugee subjectivity in New World cultural and political formations. By examining literary works by such writers as Edwidge Danticat, Nik l Payen, Kamau Brathwaite, Francisco Goldman, Julia Alvarez, Ivonne Lamazares, and Cecilia Rodr guez Milan s, theoretical work by Jacques Derrida, Edouard Glissant, and Wilson Harris, as well as human rights documents, government documents, photography, and historical studies, Asylum Speakers constructs a complex picture of New World refugees that expands current discussions of diaspora and migration, demonstrating that the peripheral nature of refugee testimonial narratives requires us to reshape the boundaries of U.S. ethnic and postcolonial studies.