The Making of a Terrorist [Three Volumes]

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The Making of a Terrorist [Three Volumes] Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes, Volume I, Recruitment, Volume II, Training, Volume III, Root Causes

James J. F. Forest, ed.

ISBN: 0-275-98543-1

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98543-1

DOI:

1280 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 11/30/2005

List Price: $315.00 (UK Sterling Price: £217.95)

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Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Reviews:

[A] useful and practical reference for commanders, planners, and analysts. As its title suggests, the three volume set aims to provide an understanding of terrorist phenomena, focusing on the actual mechanics of terrorism....What emerges from these studies is a collage of terrorist practices as they are, and not a neat, coherent, and artificial portrait of causes and cures for terrorism. The Making of a Terrorist, therefore provides essential and accessible background reading for the military practitioner in the War on Terrorism....The Making of a Terrorist provides practitioners with increments of understanding on which they can base a variety of solutions to a myriad of threats. Based on that understanding, we can then begin to formulate a response. The Making of a Terrorist is not the answer, but it helps to frame the question.
—Parameters Winter 2006-07
The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes surpasses all other lighter treatments on the topic, providing the depth which makes it highly recommendable to security collections, military libraries, and more. Three weighty volumes thoroughly cover the topic....This set is an invaluable 'must' for any seeking more depth and detail than the usual casual reviews of problems and theories.
—Midwest Book Review's California BookWatch March 2006
The library of worthwhile works on terrorism is about to grow exponentially with the publication of a massive three-volume compendium, The Making of a Terrorist, edited by James J. F. Forest, director of terrorism studies at the U.S. Military Academy.
The three volumes examine, respectively, recruitment, training, and root causes. Each volume contains useful and original work by journalists, government officials, and academics. But the third book, dealing with root causes, is by far the most valuable....Who are they? Does it matter who they are, or is it enough to know what they do? What drives them? We don't seem any closer to the answers than we were on September 10, 2001, but at least now, with the help of work such as that represented in The Making of a Terrorist, we're beginning to ask the questions.
—Wilson Quarterly Winter 2006
In this three-volume set, Forest brings together articles by over 50 international experts that address three areas: Recruitment (Volume 1), Training (Volume 2), and Root Causes (Volume 3). The word terrorism comes from the Latin terrere (to cause to tremble), explains Forest, and although there is no consensus on the modern definition of terrorism, it is commonly known as acts of politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents. With a special emphasis on the psychological, social, ideological, and religious aspects of terrorism recruitment....[t]his is a wise investment.
—Library Journal 11/15/2005

Description: Global terrorism has become a frightening reality. From New York City and Washington, D.C., to Bali, Moscow, and Madrid, ordinary citizens throughout the civilized world live with increasing fear of a deadly attack from unknown individuals, for reasons many of us cannot fathom. National and international security forces are on constant alert, desperate to prevent the next catastrophe, and yet many observers agree that our military and intelligence services are spread too thin and face insurmountable hurdles in the global war on terrorism. The situation calls for greater engagement with the public, as the necessary eyes and ears of the global anti-terrorism coalition. However, to be effective the public must be equipped with the knowledge of how, why, and where an individual becomes a terrorist. This is the primary goal of this set, which seeks to answer one central question: What do we currently know about the transformation through which an individual becomes a terrorist?

Overall, we have learned that the transformation through which an individual becomes a terrorist involves a variety of complex and intertwined issues. A single contributing factor—such as personal religious conviction, widespread poverty, or an oppressive government—may not necessarily lead to the formation of terrorist organizations. However, the current body of research on terrorism suggests that a combination of factors will, in most cases, result in some form of terrorism. This combination differs widely by region, and at minimum involves motivations, opportunities, contexts, processes, personal disposition, and preparation. Volume I deals with recruitment means and methods, and includes discussions of psychological, social, ideological, and religious dimensions of recruitment. Volume II addresses the training of terrorists, including teaching tools and training manuals, and it includes fascinating case studies from Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Aum Shinrikyo, Christian militias, and other groups. Volume III is devoted to root causes, including their political, religious, and socioeconomic dimensions. Appendices to these volumes feature profiles of terrorist organizations, samples of terrorist training manuals, and recommended resources for the study of terrorism.

Table of Contents:

VOLUME I: RECRUITMENT
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction to Volume I
PART I: PLACES AND MEANS OF TERRORIST RECRUITMENT
Innovative Recruitment and Indoctrination Tactics by Extremists: Video Games, Hip Hop, and the World Wide Web
Prisons as Terrorist Breeding Grounds
Communication and Recruitment of Terrorists
Terrorist Dot Com: Using the Internet for Terrorist Recruitment and Mobilization
Education and Radicalization: Jemaah Islamiyah Recruitment in Southeast Asia
Recruitment for Rebellion and Terrorism in the Philippines
PART II: SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS
The New Children of Terror
Hamas Social Welfare: In the Service of Terror
Terrorism, Gender and Ideology: A Case Study of Women who Join the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC)
The Making of Suicide Bombers: A Comparative Perspective
Unresolved Trauma and the Thirst for Revenge: The Retributional Terrorist
PART III: IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS
Political and Revolutionary Ideologies
The Role of Religious Ideology in Terrorist Recruitment
Christian Fundamentalism and Militia Movements in the United States
Political Islam: Violence and the Wahhabi Connection
Jihad Doctrine and Radical Islam
Zionism and the Pursuit of West Bank Settlements
Appendix A: Profiles of Terrorist Organizations
Appendix B: Al Qaeda Declarations of War
Bibliography
Index
About the Contributors
VOLUME II: TRAINING
Introduction to Volume II
PART I: TEACHING TOOLS AND DEVELOPMENTAL EXPERIENCES
When Hatred is Bred in the Bone: The Socio-Cultural Underpinnings of Terrorist Psychology
Training for Terrorism through Selective Moral Disengagement
Cults, Charismatic Groups and Social Systems: Understanding the Behavior of Terrorist Recruits
The Psychological Power of Charismatic Leaders in Cults and Terrorist Organizations
Teaching Terrorism: Dimensions of Information and Technology
Mediated Terrorism: Teaching Terror through Propaganda and Publicity
PART II: CASE STUDIES OF TERRORIST LEARNING
Training for Urban Resistance: The Case of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Teaching New Terrorist Recruits: A Review of Training Manuals from the Uzbekistan Mujahideen
Learning to Die: Suicide Terrorism in the 21st Century
The Al Qaeda Training Camps of Afghanistan and Beyond
The Bosnian Mujahideen: Origins, Training and Implications
Indoctrination Processes Within Jemaah Islamiyah
Christian Militia Training: Arming the Troops with Scripture, the Law and a Good Gun
The Hizballah Training Camps of Lebanon
The Human Factor in Insurgency: Recruitment and Training in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
The Making of Aum Shinrikyos Chemical Weapons Program
Terrorist Training Centers Around the World: A Brief Review
Appendix: Examples of Training Manuals for Terrorism and Guerilla Warfare
Bibliography
Index
About the Contributors
VOLUME III: ROOT CAUSES
Introduction to Volume III
PART I: POLITICAL DIMENSIONS
Instability and Opportunity: The Origins of Terrorism in Weak and Failed States
Superpower Foreign Policies: A Source for Global Resentment
A Failure to Communicate: American Public Diplomacy in the Islamic World
The Complex Relationship between Global Terrorism and U.S. Support for Israel
Political Repression and Violent Rebellion in the Muslim World
Rejection of Political Institutions by Right Wing Extremists in the United States
PART II: RELIGIOUS AND SOCIOECONOMIC DIMENSIONS
Religious Sources of Violence
Terrorism and Doomsday
Fueling The Fires: The Oil Factor in Middle Eastern Terrorism
Socioeconomic and Demographic Roots of Terrorism
The Intersection of Terrorism and the Drug Trade
Terrorism and Export Economies: The Dark Side of Free Trade
PART III: ALTERNATIVE VIEWS ON ROOT CAUSES OF TERRORISM
Terrorism, Interdependence and Democracy
Human Security and Good Governance: A Living Systems Approach to Understanding and Combating Terrorism
Terrorism and the State: The Logic of Killing Civilians
Digging Deep: Environment and Geography as Root Influences for Terrorism
Dealing with the Roots of Terror
Appendix: Recommended Resources for the Study of Terrorism
Bibliography
Index
About the Contributors

About the Author: James J. F. Forest is Director of Terrorism Studies at the United States Military Academy, where he teaches courses on information warfare, terrorism/counterterrorism, comparative politics and international relations. He is the author of Homeland Security: Protecting America's Targets, three volumes (PSI, 2006).

LCC Class: HV6431


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