Terrorism Studies Research Articles

Salafist approaches to violence and terrorism: The Indian case study

AbstractContemporary research on Salafism and terrorism often misses out much coming from nations like India where Salafists have an entrenched presence. This article tries to bridge the gap by examining Salafist organisations in India and their approach to violence and terrorism. Relying on fieldwork conducted in three states of India in 2021/2022, primary sources such as videos of various ideologues in Malayalam, Urdu, English, and Kannada as well as secondary sources including available literature on Salafis and violence in India, this article presents a comprehensive understanding of how Indian Salafists have reacted to violence. Tracing the history of Salafism in India to the 19th/20th century in the North and the South, it argues that in the contemporary era, Salafists have institutionally opposed the use of violence to achieve any gains for Islam. This opposition is rooted in Qur'anic injunctions and the Ahadeeth where interpretations supporting non‐violence are both locally produced and inspired externally, especially from Saudi Arabia. This opposition is derived from a range of reasons including their historic presence, participation in the democratic process and fear of reprisal among others. The article thus, makes a significant contribution to Salafism, Islam in India and terrorism studies.

International terrorism: concept and forms: الإرهاب الدولي؛ مفهومه وأشكاله

The main aim of this research is to gettrue informations, in response to recent developments in the field of terrorism studies and The role of Islamic Laws in rejecting terrorism and its relation to international law. This paper with its data has reached a general framework for terrorism summarized by a well-known principle: the end justifies the means. If the purpose contains an assault on humanity's dignity, freedom, money, blood, and thought. International terrorism is one of the modern concepts that is linked to general international law, considering that terrorism has become transcontinental and no longer confined to a specific society, until it has an effect on foreign relations between countries. The scientific definition and control of this concept faced many problems. Due to the absence of an equitable scientific reference.

Современные тенденции зарубежных исследований терроризма

The article presents data from foreign studies of terrorism. The consequences of the terrorist acts of 2001 for the sphere of scientific support are considered. There is a significant intensification of scientific research, expressed in an increase in the number of scientific publications, thematic journals, specialized institutes. Attention is focused on the main directions of scientific research and scientific works, which to the greatest extent

An evaluation of factors pushing youth from Majengo, Mombasa Kenya into al-Shabaab: a methodological and theoretical analysis

ABSTRACT This study examines factors influencing youth from Majengo in Mombasa County in Kenya to join the Al-Shabaab violent extremist group. Drawing on empirical data and social movement theory, the study finds several contextual factors, including religious ideology, social media, and texts, as aiding the radicalisation process. The study findings are consistent with the existing literature in the sub-field of terrorism studies indicating the non-linearity of the radicalisation journey. The study is informed by insights from 30 in-depth qualitative interviews carried out between 2016 and 2019 in Mombasa with religious leaders, academic experts, community members and various government agencies. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to collect qualitative data, which were analysed thematically. Secondary data was collected from books, academic journals, newspapers and grey literature. The study contributes to noted gaps in terrorism studies on the value of primary data in the analysis of political violence.

Critical terrorism studies and postcolonialism: constructing ungoverned spaces in counter-terrorism discourse in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article explores a neglected question in ongoing debates about counter-terrorism efforts in Nigeria: How is Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy discursively framed? The article argues, in part, that Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy is essentially a political activity which contributes to the production of a specific Nigerian identity by designating north-eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin as “ungoverned” spaces. This construction of identity through geography, though, has important implications for policy, identity and security in Nigeria, and beyond. This study of Nigeria, I also argue, presents an opportunity for a much-needed conversation between CTS and postcolonialism for broadening knowledge on discourses around (counter-)terrorism. Drawing upon the concept of space in postcolonial scholarship, this article demonstrates how the relationship between geography, identity and subjectivity offers a broader framework for articulating continuing, and recent, discourses of counter-terrorism. It demonstrates how Nigerian counter-terrorism discourse reproduces, and transforms, well-known Euro-centric and state-centred discourses which intersect with colonial and imperialistic ideas (and practices). In doing so, the article makes two notable contributions: first, it provides a sustained focus on official articulations of counter-terrorism in Nigeria by examining important primary data. Second, in mobilizing the concept of space in postcolonialism, it facilitates crucial theoretical reflections within (critical) terrorism studies.

Reformasi Dalam QS. Al-Kahfi: Telaah Konsep Al-Ishlāh Wa At-Taghyīr Sholāh Shulthān Serta Relevansinya Terhadap Fenomena Radikalisme di Indonesia

Reform in QS. Al-Kahf: Examining the Concept of Al-Ishlāh Wa At-Taghyīr Sholāh Shulthān and Its Relevance to the Phenomenon of Radicalism in Indonesia This study aims to analyze the concept of Al-Ishlah wa At-Taghyir which was initiated by Sholah As-Shultan an international scholar and how its relevance to the phenomenon of radicalism in Indonesia. Studies of radicalism, terrorism and extremism have attracted the interest of scientists after the rampant acts of terror that occurred in Indonesia in the last two decades, such as the 2002 Bali bombings, and others. Reforms and improvements to deviations are fundamental things in human life, even the discourse is very much considered by Al-Quran Al-Karim. In QS Al-Kahf, there are several manhajs that are full of reform models to achieve community civilization to become more religious. The research was conducted through a qualitative approach. Through a literature study of Sholah Sulthan's primary work entitled Sūrah Al-Kahfi Manhajiyyāt Fī Al-Islāh Wa At-Tagyīr Dirāsāt Ta'shīliyyah Tathbīqiyyah, the secondary works were taken from other works. The results of the study show several conclusions including: 1) Reform and change are very much considered in the Qur'an, 2) in the QS. Al-Kahf forms of reform reform methods include several forms such as Manhajiyyatu At-Tadarruj min Al-Istid'āf ilā Al-Hiwār wa Minhā ilā At-Tamkīn, Manhajiyyatu Ba'tsu al-Amal Mahma Kāna al-Alam, and 3) Concepts of Al -Ishlah wa At-Taghyir has relevance to the phenomenon of radicalism in Indonesia, among its efforts is to trace the causal factors, then design preventive measures, collaborative efforts from various parties, and be patient with the process

Decolonialisation and the Terrorism Industry

ABSTRACT Decolonising academia has gained much traction in some global north and global south countries over the last few years, resulting in initiatives such as decolonising the curricula. However, the terrorism industry as a whole has so far escaped such calls. The industry has a long and deep relationship with global north countries, such as the US. The industry produces a range of surveillance and military technologies and knowledge on political violence. The knowledge is often used to develop counter-terrorism strategies that are used as part of global north democratising projects to ensure that global north neo-liberal, political and cultural ideals are the future for global south countries, making them manageable. Therefore, an important question needs to be posed, which is, can terrorism studies be decolonised? I believe that terrorism studies can be decolonised but only by developing decolonial terrorism studies. However, I am aware that some governments and terrorism scholars, institutions, NGOs and the military and tech industrial complex may be against this idea for prejudicial, political, economic and epistemic reasons. Others may favour “friendly” decolonization, as a way to maintain existing power structures, control and epistemic direction of terrorism studies.

Terrorism and Political Tolerance toward “Fellow Travelers”

How does terrorism influence citizens’ willingness to deny basic liberties to domestic groups alleged to be “fellow travelers” of the perpetrators of terrorism? Based on intergroup threat theory and social identity theory, we hypothesize that political intolerance toward fellow traveler groups is determined by three factors: (1) the level of terrorism, (2) the degree to which domestic outgroups are alleged to be demographically or politically associated with terrorist groups, and (3) whether individuals identify strongly with the political Right. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that higher levels of terrorism in Israel over a thirty-year period produce a “diffusion of political intolerance” among Israeli Jews on the Right that extends to domestic groups distant from the perpetrators of terrorism. Our findings have important implications for the study of terrorism, democracy, and political tolerance.

Responding Non-Violently to ETA’s Violence: The Motivations and Emotions of Victims of Terrorism in Spain

ABSTRACT Terrorism studies have devoted considerable attention to the motivations and emotions of perpetrators but far less to those of victims of terrorism. This articles fills this gap by analyzing the reasons why victims of ETA’s terrorism in Spain avoided resorting to violence despite their grievances and victimization. Victims of ETA’s terrorism experienced injustice, distrust, vulnerability, helplessness, and superiority: a set of shared beliefs that in other contexts led individuals to engage in violence. However, victims of ETA’s terrorism did not respond violently, many of them also engaging in social mobilization and protest. The article analyzes how victims channeled their emotions after their victimization so that self-control prevailed when feelings of rage and revenge arose. This analysis confirms that individuals are not merely recipients of stimuli, but active constructors of meanings. It also allows to contrast the rationality and emotionality of the victims’ response to terrorism with that of their victimizers.

Dominant predictors of violent versus non-violent terrorist roles among US Muslim converts

ABSTRACT Terrorism is a diverse form of violence, and terrorists are also diverse in terms of their characteristics, motivations for participating, and the roles they take within terrorism. Though terrorism studies have mostly focused on developing broad theories of why people participate in terrorism in general, some scholars have advocated for research that tests specific, contextually bound hypotheses and a disaggregation of terrorism by its roles. This study explores which variables most strongly predict violent (i.e. active planning/commission of terrorist violence) versus non-violent (i.e. passive support) involvement in Islamist terrorism among US Muslim converts (N = 131). After rigorously coding open-source data, a dominance analysis indicated that three variables (out of hundreds) were the dominant predictors of whether a subject took on a violent versus non-violent role (V/N-V), accounting for 25% of variance in V/N-V. Subjects who had owned and/or trained with a weapon, were domestic (versus international) terrorists, and had publicly declared their extremist beliefs were significantly more likely to plan or perpetrate terrorist violence, whereas variables related to radicalization, socialization, and socio-demographics had no impact on V/N-V. These results reinforce that terrorism is not monolithic and that understanding antecedent and operational behaviors may hold the most utility for preventing terrorist violence.

Perempuan dan Terorisme: Studi Literatur di Indonesia

The focus of this article discusses the development of literature on the theme of women and terrorism in Indonesia. Primary data in the form of scientific articles obtained from online sources such as online journals were analyzed using qualitative descriptive methods. The findings of this article show that there are many studies and articles published with various focuses or topics related to the themes of women and terrorism. Studies related to women and terrorism in Indonesia can be classified covering topics of women's involvement, women's roles, women's absence, media, and gender. Therefore, this article confirms that the study of women and terrorism is growing and diversified along with the increasing phenomenon of women's terrorism

Tweeting terrorism: Vernacular conceptions of Muslims and terror in the wake of the Manchester Bombing on Twitter

ABSTRACT Both vernacular security studies and critical terrorism studies (CTS) offer constructivist analyses of security couched in understandings of security speak. However, neither adequately take account of the ways in which social media presents important opportunities for greater insight into how terrorism is constructed. This study analyses tweets posted after the 2017 Manchester bombing, exploring how jihadist terror attacks are constructed on social media. To do this, we combine social network analysis, as a sampling method, with discourse analysis. The study finds that Twitter provides a platform for diverse terrorism discourses to be expressed and contested. This indicates a literate lay audience within post-attack narratives, self-aware of dominant social constructions of “Muslim terrorism”. Indeed, it suggests an audience that, on Twitter, is hardly only audience but seeks to speak security itself. Insights are gleaned with respect to depicting, defending, and critiquing Muslims, constructing what it means to be a terrorist, portrayals of victimhood, and how terror events feed into broader critiques of “political correctness” and “liberal” politics. Therefore, the analysis also provides further insights into the portrayal and (self-)positioning of Muslims in the wake of a jihadist attack and nuances accounts of Muslims’ securitisation qua terror.

Editors’ introduction: critical terrorism studies and the far-right: new and (re)new(ed) challenges ahead?

Editors’ introduction: critical terrorism studies and the far-right: new and (re)new(ed) challenges ahead?

Critical terrorism studies and the far-right: beyond problems and solutions?

ABSTRACT Recent years have witnessed increasing academic, media, and political attention to the threat of far-right terrorism. In this article, I argue that scholarship on this threat has suffered from two limitations, each with antecedents in terrorism research more broadly. First, is an essentialist approach to this phenomenon as an extra-discursive object of knowledge to be defined, explained, catalogued, risk assessed, and (ultimately) resolved. Second, is a temptation to emphasise, even accentuate, the scale of this threat. These limitations are evident, I argue, within scholarship motivated by a problem-solving aspiration for policy relevance. They are evident too, though, within critical interventions in which a focus on far-right terrorism is seen as an important corrective to established biases and blind spots within (counter-)terrorism research and practice. In response, I argue for an approach rooted in the problematisation and desecuritisation of the far-right threat. This, I suggest, facilitates important new reflection on the far-right’s production within and beyond terrorism research, as well as on the purposes and politics of critique therein.

Misogynistic terrorism: it has always been here

ABSTRACT Anti-semitism, racism, pro-life beliefs, and extreme Christian ideology have long been acknowledged to be a feature in far-right terrorist violence in the United States. However, what has been less acknowledged is the underpinning element of misogyny. This paper aims to reflect on why this is. First, it looks at the chronological trajectory of “common-couple violence” to “patriarchal terrorism” to “misogynistic terrorism.” Even though scholarship on this form of terrorism can be traced back to the 1970s, mainstream Terrorism Studies has never fully engaged with the idea. This is echoed in a recent assertion that misogyny and violence against women is not political and therefore not terrorism. Second, this paper aims to demonstrate that this lack of engagement works in tandem with the bare minimum of acknowledgement of misogyny in the far-right. Explicitly, it argues that it is hard to see misogyny in a largely patriarchal and masculinist system. This is even more important today with the rise of Incels and the manosphere, especially in how these support the US’s flirtation with Trump’s misogynist and racist driven neo-fascism.

"Al Qaeda’s Algerian Strategy: Attempts to Co-opt the Hirak and Rehabilitate the Salafi-Jihadi Image"

The Algerian Hirak is a popular non-violent protest movement pursuing systemic change in Algeria that has pressured the Algerian government for political transition since 16 February 2019. While the Hirak repudiates violent actors, al-Qaeda, a Salafi-jihadist organisation, has attempted to engage the movement through propaganda by utilizing a unique approach to its commentary on the Hirak. Drawing from Algeria's historical memory of French colonialism and the Algerian Civil War, al-Qaeda sought to gain support from Hirak protestors, foster violent government overthrow, and entrench themselves in the local social structure. This research paper examines al-Qaeda commentary on the Hirak through qualitative content analysis and identifies shifts in propaganda messaging. The research also seeks to contribute towards a gap in the literature by addressing a not commonly discussed subject matter within terrorism studies and providing grounding for future case studies exploring similar themes.

ТЕРРОРИЗМ В ОБЩЕСТВЕ КАК ОБЪЕКТ СОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ В НАЧАЛЕ XXI ВЕКА

The article examines the relevance of the study of terrorism at the beginning of the XXI century. When studying terrorism in society as an object of sociological research, the method of content analysis of articles posted in the Russian scientific electronic library eLIBRARY.RU and a number of foreign scientific journals was used, which was carried out in three stages. At the first stage, the objects of analysis were: domestic scientific journals included in the List of peer-reviewed scientific publications approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia dated February 12, 2019 No. 21-r; as well as international scientific journals on terrorism. In these sources, a search was carried out for documents containing in their title the semantic unit "terrorism", as well as semantic units related to various types of terrorist activities. As a result of the first stage, about 160 scientific journals were selected that publish materials related to the problem of terrorism as an object of research. At the second stage of the study, the data obtained were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The main objectives of the second stage were the analysis and systematization of indicators and criteria of terrorism as an object of sociological research. To achieve the set goals from the general population formed at the first stage, scientific journals of a sociological orientation were selected, namely, one domestic — "Sociological Research", and three foreign — "Studies in Conflict and Terrorism", "Terrorism and Political Violence" and "Post-Soviet Affairs", which formed the basis of this study. At the third stage, about 1,500 articles containing the word “terrorism” and its synonyms in the title were analyzed in the selected journals, based on the methodology of qualitative content analysis. The system of semantic units can be presented in the form of two blocks. First, a complete list of words related to terrorism was compiled. Secondly, a preliminary analysis of the main synonyms for the word "terrorism as an object of sociological research" was made. From the entire general population obtained at the second stage of the study, publications were selected containing highlighted semantic categories in the titles of works. Thus, after analyzing all publications, about 20 scientific papers were selected that met the search criteria. This approach made it possible to reflect the idea of terrorism in society as an object of sociological research.

Terrorism in the Modern World-System: Towards the Problem of Prospects for Interdisciplinary Research

Introduction. The variety of approaches and topics in the study of terrorism, as well as the obvious difference in axiological grounds for assessing terrorist activity, allows the authors to raise the question of an interdisciplinary study of this problem. The authors understand terrorism as an illegal political confrontation in the struggle for power with the use of violence in order to intimidate or physically eliminate the enemy.Methodology and sources. The methodological basis of the work is the world-system concept of I. Wallerstein. The authors reveal the advantages of the world-system approach by comparing it with the paradigm of political realism in the theory of international relations. They indicate the boundaries of the paradigm of political realism, which operates at the level of the concepts of “States” and “International Coalitions”, while the phenomenon of terrorism includes structures at the level of groups and organizations. The world-systems approach allows researchers to see terrorism as an anti-system movement generated by the contradictions in the development of the system itself, to distinguish between pro-system and anti-system terrorism, to analyze this phenomenon at all societal levels. One of the essential advantages of the world-systems approach is its ability to accumulate different approaches and related disciplines in order to describe the dynamics of modern societies. In their theoretical constructions, the authors rely on the typology of terrorist organizations by O. Lizardo and A. Bergesen, as well as on the concept of waves of terrorism by D. Rapport. The authors conduct a critical analysis of the typology of terrorism by O. Lizardo, A. Bergesen and note that this typology helps to see the structural source (core, semi-periphery, periphery) and the main structural goal of terrorist organizations, but leaves behind such a phenomenon as state terrorism.Results and discussion. The authors describe terrorism in its interrelation with processes in the world system at different societal levels. At the super-macro level, the world-systems conditions for the emergence of waves of terrorist activity are described, and the links between terrorism and the struggle to establish a global order are indicated. At the macro level (the level of political confrontation for the establishment of some form of order within the state), the authors investigate the differences between terrorism in “closed” and “open” societies. They note the connection between bursts of terrorist activity and the transition from a “closed” to an “open” state and vice versa. The authors consider the connection of terrorism with the processes of the peripheralization of societies as a meso-level phenomenon. Such terrorism, as a rule, is local and is inspired by the national liberation slogans of the societies of the internal periphery, the authors note that the struggle with the state here can go for both sovereignty and disputed territories. The authors refer to the meso-level the activities of terrorist organizations aimed at migrants who come from the outer periphery. The authors note that the subject of terrorism research at the micro level is, as a rule, the personality of the terrorist.Conclusion. The use of a world-systems approach to consider terrorism seems promising, and allows researchers to consider structural relations that are not available to other approaches. The authors express the hope that the interdisciplinary capabilities of the world-systems approach, its methodological potential woul be able to form a reliable basis for subsequent studies of terrorism as one of the means of illegitimate political violence in the modern world.

Modeling the Process of School Shooters Radicalization (Russian Case)

Research on radicalization became relevant to the study of terrorism and violent extremism just two decades ago. The accumulated empirical data on terrorism have led researchers and experts to understand that radicalization is a predictor of violent actions by terrorists, violent extremists, and lone actors. Violent incidents committed by school shooters are not terrorist crimes, but there is good reasons for inclusion as terrorist crimes since they have similar mechanisms. The article aims to create a conceptual model of school-shooter radicalization and determine the distinguishing features of the process. The paper presents a theoretical and methodological base of content analysis concepts, political models, and terrorist radicalization on the different levels of study. Based on the content analysis results, we identify the significant gaps in the research field, consider the radicalization phenomenon in detail, substantiated the qualitative aspects of the school shooters radicalization, and propose a conceptual scheme. Psychological, behavioral, cognitive aspects of the school shooters radicalization reflect a holistic picture of the relationship between the process phases and changes in the parameters of the object’s state. The aspects of radicalization and this phenomenon’s qualitative properties are interpreted as the determinants of the conceptual model. The model includes five stages, each of which is considered to be one of the components for the formation and acceptance of the idea of a violent way to solve a problem, but certainly do not act individually as the only component that leads to the actual implementation of the incident of a school shooting. An in-depth study of online social connections and warning signs, mobilization factors, behavioral trajectories, and imitation mechanisms can help scientists understand why school shooters are increasingly motivated to use violent means to achieve personal goals. We have outlined the possibilities and prospects of the model’s application and directions for future research.

Beyond Healthy Skepticism: Exploring German News Media Framing of Terrorism-Affiliated Women Returnees

Various feminist contributions to Terrorism Studies provide insight into how the media rationalizes terrorism-affiliated women through framing, but the question of how newspapers frame women returnees remains scarcely explored. Through a semantic content analysis of 63 German news articles, supplemented by interviews with journalists, this article reveals how German news media framing fosters a skeptical attitude toward women returnees. This effect is further reinforced when accompanied by a portrayal of individual returnees as irresponsible mothers. In contrast to the treatment of terrorism-affiliated women in general, the framing of women returnees does not seek to rationalize their violence, but instead provides moral guidance regarding security responses.