Series: Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare

More than a decade ago, counterterrorism expert Rita Katz began browsing white supremacist and neo-Nazi forums. The hateful rhetoric and constant threats of violence immediately reminded her of the jihadist militants she spent her days monitoring, but law enforcement and policymakers barely paid attention to the Far Right. Now, years of attacks committed by extremists radicalised online—including mass murders at...

In the years following the Arab Spring, a number of Islamist insurgent groups conquered swathes of territory across the Middle East and North Africa and began governing civilian populations. These groups have been faced with the complexities of administering justice, collecting taxes, and providing public services such as health care and education. How do Salafi-Jihadist armed groups, which typically claim...

The political turmoil in Libya—which has claimed more than 20,000 lives and frustrated international partners since 2011—is an immensely complex struggle for power with a dizzying array of participants. How did Libya's "Arab Spring" devolve into civil war after the removal of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi? Ruining Revolution examines Libya's descent into chaos, pinpointing the roles of Islamist and Salafi...

What makes a person want to become a terrorist? Who becomes involved in terrorism, and why? In what ways does participating in violent extremism change someone? And how can people become deradicalised? John Horgan—one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of terrorism—takes readers on a globe-spanning journey into the terrorist mindset. Drawing on groundbreaking personal interviews as well...

Since declaring independence in 1948, Israel has been involved in an intractable conflict with the Palestinians and its neighbours. While violence has ebbed and flowed over the years, the threat of terrorism has remained a constant factor, shaping Israeli security policy in a unique way. Boaz Ganor provides an authoritative analysis of Israel's approach to counterterrorism throughout its existence. Drawing...

After two decades and trillions of dollars, the United States' fight against terrorism has achieved mixed results. Despite the vast resources and attention expended since 9/11, terrorism has increased in many societies that have been caught up in the war on terror. Why have U.S. policies been unable to stem the tide of violence? Harrison Akins reveals how the war...

For more than a century, from 1900 to 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts in achieving their stated goals. By attracting impressive support from citizens, whose activism takes the form of protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of nonviolent noncooperation, these efforts help separate regimes from their main sources of...

What is the role of founding leaders in shaping terrorist organisations? What follows the loss of this formative leader? These questions are especially important to religious terrorist groups, in which leaders are particularly revered. Tricia L. Bacon and Elizabeth Grimm provide a groundbreaking analysis of how religious terrorist groups manage and adapt to major shifts in leadership. They demonstrate that...

Although the United States has prioritised its fight against militant groups for two decades, the transnational jihadist movement has proved surprisingly resilient and adaptable. Many analysts and practitioners have underestimated these militant organisations, viewing them as unsophisticated or unchanging despite the ongoing evolution of their tactics and strategies. In Enemies Near and Far, two internationally recognised experts use newly available...

Why do armed groups employ terrorism in markedly different ways during civil wars? Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork, Andreas E. Feldmann examines the disparate behaviour of actors including guerrilla groups, state security forces, and paramilitaries during Colombia's long and bloody civil war. Analysing the varieties of violence in this conflict, he develops a new theory of the...

For more than a century, from 1900 to 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts in achieving their stated goals. By attracting impressive support from citizens, whose activism takes the form of protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of nonviolent noncooperation, these efforts help separate regimes from their main sources of...

Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman has remained the seminal work for understanding the historical evolution of terrorism and the terrorist mind-set. In this revised third edition of his classic text, Hoffman analyses the latest developments in global terrorism, offering insight into new adversaries, motivations, strategies, and tactics. He focuses on the rise of ISIS and the resilience of al-Qaeda; terrorist...

If someone posts a death threat or a violent manifesto online, will they cross over from words to deeds? Explicit threats, intimidation campaigns, and incitements to violence are no rarity among white nationalists, incels, and other racist and misogynist extremists. Yet it is often difficult to determine whether they pose genuine risks, since the boundaries between trolling and true violent...