Terrorism Studies

This new Reader aims to guide students through some of the key readings on the subject of terrorism and political violence.

In an age when there is more written about terrorism than anyone can possibly read in a lifetime, it has become increasingly difficult for students and scholars to navigate the literature. At the same time, courses and modules on terrorism studies are developing at a rapid rate. To meet this challenge, this wide-ranging Reader seeks to equip the aspiring student, based anywhere in the world, with a comprehensive introduction to the study of terrorism. Containing many of the most influential and groundbreaking studies from the world’s leading experts, drawn from several academic disciplines, this volume is the essential companion for any student of terrorism and political violence.

The Reader, which starts with a detailed Introduction by the editors, is divided into seven sections, each of which contains a short introduction as well as a guide to further reading and student discussion questions:

• Terrorism in Historical Context
• Definitions
• Understanding and Explaining Terrorism
• Terrorist Movements
• Terrorist Behaviour
• Counterterrorism
• Current and Future Trends in Terrorism.

This Reader will be essential reading for students of Terrorism and Political Violence, and highly recommended for students of Security Studies, War and Conflict Studies and Political Science in general, as well as for practitioners in the field of counter-terrorism and homeland security.

Contributors: David C. Rapoport, Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Jack Gibbs, Leonard Weinberg, Ami Pedahzur, Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler, Alex Schmid, Martha Crenshaw, Max Taylor, John Horgan, Magnus Ranstorp, C.J.M. Drake, Ehud Sprinzak, Jennifer S. Holmes, Sheila Amin Gutierrez de Pineres, Kevin M. Curtin, Xavier Raufer, Donatella della Porta, Robert Pape, Mia Bloom, Chris Dishman, Andrew Silke, Muhammad Hanif bin Hassan, Gary Ackerman, Bruce Hoffman, John Mueller, Mohammed Hafez, Karla J. Cunningham, Jonathan Tonge, Lorenzo Vidino and Michael Barkun.

John Horgan is Director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at the Pennsylvania State University, where he is also Associate Professor of Psychology, and Information Sciences and Technology. He is a leading expert on the psychology of terrorism, and his books include The Psychology of Terrorism (2005), The Future of Terrorism (1999, with Max Taylor) and Walking Away from Terrorism: Accounts of Disengagement from Radical and Extremist Movements (2009). He is an Editorial Board member of several journals including Terrorism and Political Violence, and is a member of the Research Advisory Board of the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.

Kurt Braddock is a Doctoral candidate in Communication Arts and Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University, where he is also a Graduate Research Assistant at the International Center for the Study of Terrorism.