From the Terrorists' Point of View What They Experience and Why They Come to Destroy

Subjects:

• Psychology » Psychology (General)
• Psychology » Social Psychology
• Psychology » Environmental Psychology
• Anthropology » Cultural Anthropology

Reviews:

• In this book, Moghaddam, the author of numerous textbooks on social psychology, explains to Americans that contemporary Islamic terrorists are not "crazy" or "suicidal." They become terrorists because their repressive societies allow their need for identity to be fulfilled only through such relatively autonomous Islamic organizations as terrorist groups. The failure to allow individual rights and individual development interacts with the "dead history cultures" to disseminate despair. Moghaddam also shows that while the closed Islamic societies shape conditions for developing the terrorist commitment to destruction, U.S. policy in the region, supporting despotic governments and Israel's repression of Palestine, has made the United States an inevitable target. He asserts that military efforts will not defeat Middle Eastern terrorism until U.S. policy modifies its support of current oppressive governments and more intelligently supports democratic conditions in the Middle East. The combination of theoretical analysis and concrete examples sometimes makes for awkward and dense prose, but the importance of the topic and Moghaddam's expertise in the psychology of individuals and societies along with his familiarity with Iran and Iraq make this a useful addition to libraries.
  —Library Journal November 15, 2006
• [I]t is refreshing to have a book that examines what makes Islamist fundamentalist terrorism tick....In terrorism, as in so many other security threats, understanding one's enemy is the critical foundation for effectively dealing with the manifestations of the threat. From the Terrorists' Point of View is a helpful resource in this regard, and it is highly recommended for anyone concerned with today's terrorist threat.
  —Security Management November 2007
• This book From the Terrorists' Point of View: What They Experience and Why They Come to Destroy is required reading for the layperson who asked after 9/11, "Why do they hate us?" and "Why would anyone commit suicide to kill people he doesn't even know?"
  —Psyccritiques 2007
• Moghaddam, professor of psychology at Georgetown, challenges both the religious and the socioeconomic paradigms of understanding terrorism in this compelling analysis.
  —Multicultural Review Spring 2007
• The author is very clear on one point upon which we all agree: terrorism, regardless of its motive, cannot be justified. Be he is also very clear with the core of his thesis -- that a better understanding of terrorism and how to end it can only be achieved when one is able to see the world from the terrorists' point of view....[t]his controversial position is precisely what makes From the Terrorists' Point of View an interesting book.
  —Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management 2006
• Focusing on terrorism originating in the Islamic world, Moghaddam proposes a staircase model for why individuals become involved with terrorist organizations and the process by which they come to carry out terrorist acts. His model is rooted in the concept that the Islamic world is undergoing a crisis of identity in a globalizing world in which all avenues of opposition have been confined to the arena of Islamic fundamentalism. From these initial conditions, he lays out a "staircase" model of identity formation for how individuals proceed towards terrorism. He recommends combating this process through the promotion of "contextualized democracy" which will allow for Muslims to address their political concerns while still retaining an authentic identity.
  —Reference & Research Book News November 2006
• While college-level students of world history and terrorism-related issues will be the most likely audience for the scholarly analysis in From the Terrorists' Point of View: What They Experience and Why They Come to Destroy, it'd be a shame not to recommend this outside the college-level collection for general interest readers. It argues that terrorism arises from an identity crisis in Islamic societies, and uses the author's own experiences of life in that world, along with his psychological degree, to analyze the psyche and motivations of the terrorist mind. Think this holds only implications for understanding individuals? Think again: chapters draw essential links between this understanding the U.S. strategies for abolishing terrorism strategies which may be wrong given Moghaddam's insights.
  —California Bookwatch October 2006

• Endorsement From Philip G. Zimbardo
  Professor Emeritus, Stanford University
  Director, Stanford Center on Policy, Education and Research on Terrorism: A wise and insightful understanding of the cultural and psychological foundations of the staircase that leads up to global terrorism--and to new strategies for combating this lethal menace. For the first time, we get to see the world through the eyes and minds of Islamic terrorists, aided by this dedicated on-the-spot researcher, and talented writer, Dr. Moghaddam.
• Endorsement From Willem Doise
  Professor of Social Psychology
  University of Geneva, Switzerland
  author of Human Rights as Social Representations: This is an exceptional achievement by a well-informed and insightful academic who uses tools of social psychology to explain terrorism. I do not hesitate to compare the exceptional insight and civic commitment of professor Moghaddam to the endeavor of those social scientists who intervened fifty years ago in the desegregation battle.
• Endorsement From Daniel J. Christie
  Professor of Psychology
  Ohio State University: There are many books on the roots of terrorism but this one offers an analysis that is not only engaging and highly readable but well informed and profoundly insightful, based on the authors understanding of history, culture, politics and the social psychology of the would-be terrorist. Using the metaphor of a staircase, Fathali Moghaddam describes a step-by-step process that can lead people to identify themselves as terrorists. Drawing on his extensive research and travel, he demonstrates how terrorism arises from social and cultural contexts and can be rooted out by changing the contexts that support terrorism.
• Endorsement From Mansur Lalljee
  Oxford University: A fascinating study into the development of the perspective of the terrorist. The 'Staircase to Terrorism' is a powerful metaphor which clearly illuminates the processes involved in the development of terrorism. Through the idea of contextual democracy, Ali Moghaddam argues for the centrality of long-term nonmilitary strategies in response.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Why Consider the Terrorists' Point of View?
• Identity Needs and Globalization
• The Staircase to Terrorism
• Ground Floor: Growing Dissatisfaction Among the Multitudes
• First Floor: How Do We Fight This Unfair System?
• Second Floor: Those Americans Are to Blame!
• Third Floor: The Ends Justify the Means
• Fourth Floor: It's Us against Them
• Fifth Floor: This "Heroic" Act Will Improve the World
• Contextualized Democracy as a Solution to Terrorism
• Selected Bibliography