FROM THE PREFACE:If the post-September 11th world has taught us anything, it is that the tools for conducting serious terrorist attacks are becoming easier to acquire. Therefore intention becomes an increasingly important factor in the formation of terrorist cells. This study is an attempt to look at how the intention forms, hardens and leads to an attack or attempted attack using real world case studies.The aim of this report is to assist policymakers and law enforcement officials, both in Washington and throughout the country, by providing a thorough understanding of the kind of threat we face domestically. It also seeks to contribute to the debate among intelligence and law enforcement agencies on how best to counter this emerging threat by better understanding what constitutes the radicalization process. (THIS IS THE 2007 REPORT THAT SOME ADVOCACY GROUPS SEEK TO CENSOR.)

Although the West denounces the spread of radical Islam in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and elsewhere in the Muslim world, it tends to overlook the development of Islamic extremism in its own societies. Over the past several decades, groups like al-Qaeda have been supported by thousands of citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western democracies. Rejecting their national identity, they have heeded international calls to "jihad" and formed extremist groups to fight their own countries. This groundbreaking book represents one of the first systematic attempts to explain why Westerners join radical Islamic groups. Quintan Wiktorowicz details the mechanisms that attract potential recruits, the instruments of persuasion that convince them that radical groups represent "real Islam," and the socialization process that prods them to engage in risky extremism. Throughout, he traces the subtle process that can turn seemingly unreligious people into supporters of religious violence. The author's invaluable insights are based upon nearly unprecedented access to a radical Islamic group in the West. His extraordinary fieldwork forms the basis of a detailed case study of al-Muhajiroun, a transnational movement based in London that supports Bin Laden and other Islamic terrorists. Through its rich empirical detail, this book explains why ordinary people join extremist movements.

The Handbook of the Criminology of Terrorism features a collection of essays that represent the most recent criminological research relating to the origins and evolution of, along with responses to, terrorism, from a criminological perspective. Offers an authoritative overview of the latest criminological research into the causes of and responses to terrorism in today’s world Covers broad themes that include terrorism’s origins, theories, methodologies, types, relationship to other forms of crime, terrorism and the criminal justice system, ways to counter terrorism, and more Features original contributions from a group of international experts in the field Provides unique insights into the field through an exclusive focus on criminological conceptual frameworks and empirical studies that engage terrorism and responses to it

Radicalisation, Extremism and Social Work Practice is the first book to explore cultural identity, acculturation and perceived discrimination of Muslim youth across Western countries in relation to social work, as well as the radicalisation and extremist views and actions of a small number of Muslim youth. It draws on relevant theoretical frameworks and research to examine the different approaches taken in social work practice. Some countries consider multi-agency approaches, particularly how public health practice can inform interventions and strategies. Others take a public health approach, looking for risk factors and seeking protective factors to develop suitable interventions within the communities through public engagement and partnership. As well as examining and discussing the above approaches, this book critically examines government and community-based approaches to radicalisation and extremism, and strategies for combating these. This volume will be a valuable resource for social work students, including other disciplines such as psychology, public health, psychiatry, sociology, political science and community development. It will also be of interest to policy makers, practitioners and researchers.

The attacks in Paris in January and November 2015 heralded the beginning of a new wave of terrorism - one rooted in the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq. As ISIS seeks to expand its reach in the Middle East, its territory serves as a base for training and operations for a new generation of jihadis. Thousands of young people from the West, primarily from Europe, have travelled to join ISIS, re-emerging as hardened fighters with military training and a network of international contacts. Many of these have now returned to their homelands, where it is feared they are planning a new series of brutal attacks. Peter R. Neumann here explains the phenomenon of the 'new jihadis', and shows why the threat of terrorism in the West is greater than ever before. Based on interviews and previously-unseen material, Neumann provides an essential introduction to one of the greatest crises of our time

There is widespread concern today about the “radicalization” of young muslim men, and the deprived areas of Western cities are believed to have become breeding grounds of home-grown extremism. But how do young Muslims growing up in the cities of the West really live? This book takes us beyond the rhetoric and into the housing estates on the outskirts of Paris to meet Adama, Radouane, Hassan, Tarik, Marley, and a shadowy figure whose name suddenly and brutally became known to the world at the time of the Charlie Hebdo shootings: Amédy Coulibaly. Seeing Amédy through the eyes of close friends and other young Muslim men in the neighbourhoods where they grew up, Fabien Truong uncovers a network of competing loyalties and maps the road these youths take to resolve the conflicts they face: becoming Muslim. For these young men, Islam stands, often alone, as a resource, a gateway – as if it were the last route to “escape” without betrayal and to “fight” in a meaningful and noble way. Becoming Muslim does not necessarily lead to the radicalized “other”. It is more like a long-distance race, a powerful reconversion of the self that allows for introspection and change. But it can also lead to a belligerent presentation of the self that transforms a dead-end into a call to arms.