It's hard to make sense of a series of events that to the majority, make no sense at all. Especially in an era of fake news and false reports.
Here, we've pulled together a collection of our research on the topic so that you are better informed. And if we're better informed from research that matters we can make a positive difference together.
Terrorism as a gravitational attraction
Drawing on the theoretical system known as pure sociology, this book chapter presents a theory of the transition from ordinary citizen to dedicated terrorist.
The theory builds upon network explanations of the transition to terrorism but goes beyond them in three ways:
1. it provides an explanation of the initial drift into terrorist networks;
2. it does not invoke psychology, purposes or other subjective mental states of the actors; and
3. it situates the transition to terrorism within a general theory of conflict.
Religious fundamentalism and terrorism: why do they do it and what do they want?
This article aims to develop and explore diagnostic frameworks to enhance one's understanding of the religiously-inspired terrorist.
It seeks to examine the relationship between the culture and conditions from which terrorists are recruited, as well as the psychological impact of fundamentalist religious teachings upon the minds of susceptible people.
Terrorism and the internet: a double‐edged sword
This paper serves as a useful guide to alert and educate counter‐terrorism professionals, law enforcement and policy makers of the significance of the extent of the use of the internet for purposes such as operational planning, recruitment, psychological operations and fund raising.
It is essential that these subjects should not be viewed as a peripheral issue to cyber- terrorism, but instead, should be considered to be central to the existing counter‐ terrorism effort.
Well funded and dangerous: assessing the Islamic State’s financing operations
The existing literature on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has thus far focused on the group’s contemporary or previous financing activities.
However, there has not been an analysis of the ways in which ISIS’ funding is likely to change moving forward now that it has come under international scrutiny.
This article assesses the ways in which ISIS’ funding is likely to evolve in the future and to also suggest methods for combating its financing activities.
What is terrorism? Concepts, definitions and classifications
While most literature on the topic finds it pointless or impossible to define terrorism, here we argue just the opposite.
Common critiques of current definitions may be overcome by using multiple definitions and classifications.
This article investigates the meaning of terrorism, with a view to highlighting the main hurdles in the way of creating a working definition, as well as the necessity of developing definitions and classifications of this phenomenon.
Imitative terrorism: a diagnostic framework for identifying catalysts and designing interventions
Modern society has found its nemesis in the terrorist, fundamentalist criminals attempting to halt progress and force society back into the Dark Ages. This article aims to build on the work of Pech, arguing that many acts of terrorism are rooted in mimicry of acts of violence.
It also argues that the number of terrorist copying behaviours can be reduced through the concept of memetic engineering, which is the altering of the message that motivates terrorists and the copying of their violent activities. A model is developed for identifying and re‐engineering vulnerable constructs within the terrorist’s causal algorithm.
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