Resources for Info on Terrorism
Over my 4.5 years here at LGF I’ve posted quite a few Pages on terrorism and radicalization, so I decided to gather links from several of them and post them on a single Page that can be bookmarked and quickly referred to. All links are to responsible resources where you’ll find the results of serious, fact-based study and research (as opposed to info with a political agenda and/or an anti-Muslim bias designed to provoke emotional reactions such as fear, suspicion, or hatred).
Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 (PDF) - The U.S. Dept. of State’s country-by-country assessment (318 pages). If you prefer a shorter version, then take a look at the Executive Summary instead (38 pages).
Homegrown Extremism 2001-2014 - The New America Foundation National Security Studies Program provides a database with “as possible about American citizens and permanent residents engaged in violent extremist activity as well as individuals, regardless of their citizenship status, living within the United States who have engaged in violent extremist activity.” It covers jihadist and non-jihadist terrorism as well as info on ISIS, NSA data, and drone strike in Pakistan & Yemen.
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) - A university-based research and education center headquartered at the University of Maryland “comprised of an international network of scholars committed to the scientific study of the causes and human consequences of terrorism in the United States and around the world.”
Combating Terrorism Center at West Point - They have TONS of materials: research reports, the CTC Sentinel (a monthly publication), the Militant Imagery Project (a searchable database of propaganda and imagery used by terrorist groups, with explanations of symbolism), and much more.
Global Security Studies (GSS) Archives - GSS is an academic and professional journal for strategic issues involving international security affairs. Eighteen issues are currently available, going back to Spring 2010.
Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism (CPOST) - An international security affairs research institute based at the University of Chicago.
International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) - Publications: Insights, papers, and reports
Council on Foreign Relations: Backgrounders - Covers numerous groups and individuals such as the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Shabab, Hamas, Khaled Meshal, Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, etc.
The Human Use of Human Beings: A Brief History of Suicide Bombing - A totally new take (at least to me) on suicide bombing in which the author argues that “it is more useful to think about suicide bombers as a type of human military technology that is controlled by an organization rather than as a form of individual fanaticism.” A very interesting read.
Women and Radical Islamic Terrorism: Planners, perpetrators, patrons? (PDF) - Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies (CISS)
The Trouble with Airport Profiling - Blog post by Bruce Schneier, security guru.
John Campbell: Boko Haram and the Dynamics of Instability in West Africa - U.S. Naval War College:
Lessons Learned - Faiza Patel is Co-Director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice:
Rethinking Radicalization: Summary - A summary of the report mentioned above (a PDF of entire report is available at the link).
All About Sharia - This isn’t about terrorism, but since Sharia is used to scare people and many non-Muslims have little or no understanding of it, I thought it would be helpful to include a discussion with a non-Muslim scholar who has studied it and understands it thoroughly. At the time of the interview he was the Director of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy (here’s his bio at the place where he’s apparently teaching now):
Additional resources added: ICSR, Council on Foreign Relations “Backgrounders”