International political sociology of New Zealand's national security law
Within the academic literature on national security law there is a conventional view which holds that this law is a formal system of rules applied to specific state institutions whose objectives and functions respond to the most serious, urgent, or existential pro blems facing a political communi...
“No punishment is enough for monsters”: vindictiveness as an important political emotion in dealing with Belgian (potential) returnee men
Building on the call to further integrate emotions in critical security and terrorism studies, we explore the ways emotions figure in media discourses and shape responses and policies on the returnee question. Through critical discourse analysis and thick description, we show how Belgian (potential)...
Understanding security force assistance: a matter of control?
This article seeks to explain the historically poor performance of the US Department of Defence’s security force assistance (SFA) to state and non-state armed forces to counter terrorism. The article argues that the dominant understanding of SFA as a one-way, top-down relation between a principal ...
The Taliban and women's human rights in Afghanistan: the way forward
The recent Taliban’s seizing of power in Afghanistan has raised serious concerns among women’s human rights advocates within Afghanistan and abroad. The Taliban, who previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, are notorious for their severe abuses and gross violations of women’s huma...
The Middle East is Violence: On the Limits of Comparative Approaches to the Study of Armed Conflict
For years, there has been debate as to whether or not the Middle East experiences more armed conflict – and for different reasons – than other regions in the world. Absent is any consideration of the grounds upon which such regional comparisons are possible. Rather than providing a general accou...
The “Syria traveller”: reintegration or legal sanctioning?
This article analyses discourses on Islamist radicalisation and threats of terrorism in Norway, with a focus on a new category of people known as “Syria travellers”, i.e. young Norwegians who go to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. Our analysis of debates in the media, policy documents and p...
Towards Critical Secular Studies in Education: addressing secular education formations and their intersecting inequalities
This paper calls for systematic inquiry into the relationship between secular governing formations and education inequalities. We present a thematic analysis of existing scholarship on secularism, the secular and post-secular in education. Our review of 184 texts reveals a frequent implicit or e...
Reflections on the Issue of ISIS
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is the most extreme manifestation of a Muslim response to the history of the past few centuries. The mystery of ISIS attracts both academic scholars and political decision-makers to debate drastically. This essay attempts to illuminate three issues...
Cognitive Distortions in Men Who Have Exited White Supremacist Groups
Despite reports of longterm cognitive and emotional difficulties after exiting right-wing extremist groups, the latter stages of the extremist group member’s trajectory have been given little attention.1 This paper argues that clinical psychological theory has been underutilised in terrorism and e...
Anti-ISIS Humor: Cultural Resistance of Radical Ideology
After the release of ISIS's ‘Salil Al-Sawarem' promotional and motivational video with its famous religious chant, hundreds of Arab YouTubers started mocking it by editing its chant and including it in funny dancing clips which they called ‘the popular edition'. Also, some Arabic ...
The perils of presidential openness: strikes, secrecy and performative opacity
In a world of increasing openness, secrecy retains its value. Covert opera tions, including strikes against individuals, can provide intelligence agen cies with the ability to operate strategically, while limiting domestic entanglements and international provocation. But presidents increasingly p...
Unpacking the crackdown on Palestine solidarity activism in the UK in a post-7 October reality
Since the events of 7 October 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military campaign that has decimated the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, the increase in grassroots solidarity for Palestine has been significant. The response from ‘Western’ governments has ranged from efforts to contain...
Muslim political dissent in coastal East Africa: complexities, ambiguities, entanglements
This article stages a comparative analysis of Muslim politics in coastal Kenya and Tanzania between 2010 and 2023. We explore parallels, discontinuities, and entanglements between different expressions of – and responses to – Muslim political dissent. Our insights are drawn from ethnographic fie...
Pakistan, the Radicalization of the Jihadist Movement and the Challenge to China
This paper gives a short comprehensive overview of Pakistan's historical role in the emergence, development and radicalization of jihadist movements since the 1980s. India, as well as faraway states like the US and the UK, has suffered from this jihadist phenomenon. Since the early 1990s, Ch...
Dialoguing and negotiating with Al-Shabaab: the role of clan elders as insider-partial mediators
Since 2015, Al-Shabaab and the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) have been locked in a violent, protracted stalemate. There is little momentum to pursue a political settlement, with Al-Shabaab rejecting any overtures of dialogue. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from peace and conflict literatu...
“Jurisprudence Beyond the State: An Analysis of Jihadist “Justice” in Yemen, Syria and Libya
The provision of law, order and justice are some of the most sacred responsibilities of the contemporary nation-state. However, non-state actors have frequently introduced their own jurisprudence, implementing courts and various forms of related law and order in broader attempts to implement governa...
The racialization of danger: patterns and ambiguities in the relation between Islam, security and secularism in the Netherlands
ThequestionofEuropeanforeignfightersinSyriahastransformedsecurity and counter-radicalization into important pillars of the liberal secular governance of Muslims in Europe. By exploring how Dutch integration and counter-radicalization policies connect the idea of danger to Muslims and Islam, de Ko...
So How Do You Feel about That? Talking with Provos about Emotion
Participation in political violence draws on identities and world views that have been shaped and influenced by emotion. This article uses data drawn from interviews conducted with 15 former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army to highlight some of the ways that emotion is intertwined wi...
The Role of Socioeconomic Marginalization in the Radicalization of Jihadi Foreign Fighters from Europe
Is socioeconomic marginalization associated with the radicalization of European foreign fighters? I analyze biographical data on 1019 foreign fighters from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom and compare their level of education and unemployment rate with those of the population most at risk of ...
Trailblazers in a Warming World? The Agency of African Actors in Climate, Peace, and Security
A growing body of evidence indicates how climate change can, combined with other factors, increase the risk of violent conflict. Such claims have particularly been made in African contexts. This article studies the agency exerted by African actors in shaping international agendas on climate, pea...
Media, identity and threat: the portrayal of foreign fighters in Kosovar press
ABSTRACT In the context of the heightened sensationalism in international press coverage of Kosovar foreign fighters (FFs), this study took a unique approach and it explored how domestic Kosovar media outlets distance FFs from mainstream culture in an attempt to uphold its positive societal image. D...
Economic and Religious Dynamics of Boko Haram: Understanding Conflict and Security in the Lake Chad Basin
ABSTRACT This study explores the intertwined economic and religious drivers of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin. While the group’s ideological foundation is rooted in Salafist jihadism, its operations increasingly reflect economic motivations, particularly resource control and illi...
Civil Society Associations’ Efforts to Influence Post-Uprisings Governmental Policymaking in Three Arab States: A Regimes-Triad Approach
This article sets out to test an all too frequently undisputed assumption: contested politics and policy processtheoriesorframeworksfromtheWest,particularly the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), the Multiple Streams Framework(MSF)andtheSocialConstructionin Policy DesignFramework(SCPDF), can be ...
Conceptualising the waves of Islamist radicalisation in the UK
In recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase in interest in the study of radicalisation. To comprehend this phenomenon, numerous political science and sociological perspectives are emphasised to determine social movement conceptualisations. Using British Muslim youth as a case study, th...
Islamophobia among Muslims in Indonesia
Islamophobia has its long historical roots. Nonetheless, religiously motivated terrorism and the use of the name “Islam” by terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS) may have amplified Islamophobia. Islamophobia has caused violence against Muslims in several stages and contexts. Thi...
“Take them to Government House or Aso Rock”: Community receptivity to reintegration of Operation Safe Corridor’s deradicalised Ex-Boko Haram members in Northeastern Nigeria
Boko Haram (BH) insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria has been extensively studied burejoining insurgents, frustrated into committing crimes and this is dis-incentivising BHMs who are willing to demobilise. This trend will make BH retain its deadliness and this will enhance the perpetuation of insurgen...
Evolving security motifs, Olympic spectacle and urban planning legacy: from militarization to security-by-design
This paper examines the form, function and impact of previous Olympic security arrangements and their intersection with planning practice. Drawing from prior and ongoing empirical research investigating the security practices at summer Olympic Games, the paper argues that wider shifts towards ‘tot...
China’s Solutions to Security Governance in the Middle East: An Assessment
Over several decades, many intricate security issues in the Middle East, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iranian nuclear crisis, the Syrian conflict and terrorism, etc., have greatly influenced regional and global security and stability. The international community has taken many measu...
What are fundamentalist beliefs?
Fundamentalist beliefs are often discussed in relation to extremist, radical, or fanaticist beliefs, or terrorist ideology, as well as in relation to terrorism, radicalization, and violent extremism. Besides, the notion is frequently defined and operationalized, for example in the field of psycholog...
Twenty years of countering jihadism in Western Europe: from the shock of 9/11 to ‘jihadism fatigue’
This article provides a reflection on the jihadist threat, the policies and actors that deal with this threat and the impact of jihadism and counterterrorism in Western Europe in the past twenty years. It describes how the threat, counterterrorism policies and their impact have developed over time a...
Turtle Watch: Community engagement and action
Many threats face the freshwater turtle, Chelodina colliei, also known as the oblong turtle. A community education project, Turtle Watch, focused on this target species and enabled effective conservation action to be implemented. Turtle Watch was conducted in the Perth Metropolitan Area of Wester...
Fuelling contempt for police: explaining why procedural injustice and police ineffectiveness damage Muslims’ trust in police
Research shows that discriminatory policing can erode public trust in police. Yet, little research has examined the role that contempt can play in explaining this relationship. Focusing on Muslims in Australia, we test whether procedural justice and police effectiveness are associated with enhanced ...
‘Jewish sectarianism’ and the State of Israel
As a term which is growing in use to categorise and describe tensions and conflicts within states and societies but which receives little analysis of its meaning, this article seeks to open-up the term ‘sectarianism’ and identify main components. Stimulated by rhetoric, actions and tensions with...
The Rise of ISIS as a Partial Surprise: An OpenSource Analysis on the Threat Evolution and Early Warnings in the United Kingdom
Was the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a regional and global threat a strategic surprise? If so, what made it so difficult to anticipate? Based on an open-source analysis about developments in Syria and Iraq between April 2013 and June 2014, this article’s main argument...
Introduction to 2018 special issue of European Security: “ontological (in)security in the European Union”
The European Union (EU) faces many crises and risks to its security and existence. While few of them threaten the lives of EU citizens, they all create a sense of anxiety and insecurity about the future for many ordinary Europeans. Amongst these crises are the more obvious challenges of sovere...
Affective discipline – resilience in radicalisation prevention
This article engages with the restoration of broken resilience in Dutch secondary radicalisation prevention programmes. It demonstrates the simultaneity of disciplinary techniques and affective governance in case management captured through the concept of “affective discipline”. Affective discip...
Political ideology and attitudes towards Israel in Germany in the aftermath of the 10/7 massacres: a test of horseshoe theory
This multi-wave study examined associations between political left-right ideology and attitudes towards Israel in Germany measured at the end of October and beginning of November 2023, as well as at the end of April and beginning of May 2024. Consistent with horseshoe theory, a curvilinear ∩-shape...
Mutual trust without a strong collective identity? Examining the Shanghai cooperation organization as a nascent security community
It has long been assumed that security communities form in the international system based on at least two criteria, having a strong collective identity and mutual trust among their members. Security is gleaned through mutual trust, while community coalesces around a strong collective identity and...
Discourse, medical metaphor and the East Asian medicine approach to conflict resolution
This article analyses how threats and dangers have been understood through biomedical metaphors in international relations (IR) and US security discourse, suggesting an alternative to such understandings based on an East Asian medicine (EAM) approach to world politics. By conducting a genealogical s...
Strategic Communication and Peace-Promotion in a Nigerian Conflict Zone
This article presents a case study on the deployment of strategic communication by Future Prowess Islamic Foundation (FPIF), a non-governmental organization in the northeastern region of Nigeria ravaged by the Boko Haram terrorism crisis. The case study examines how strategic communication was utili...
Online as the New Frontline: Affect, Gender, and ISIS-Take-Down on Social MediaV
Using a dataset of more than 80 accounts during 2015, this article explores the gendered ways in which self-proclaiming Twitter Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) supporters construct community around “suspension.” The article argues that suspension is an integral event in the online lives o...
Beyond ‘radical’ versus ‘moderate’? New perspectives on the politics of moderation in Muslim majority and Muslim minority settings
Muslims are increasingly conceived through a binary frame of ‘radical’ versus ‘moderate’. In this thematic issue, we critically explore how the dichotomy of ‘radical’ versus ‘moderate’ is constructed and mobilized in different Muslim majority and Muslim minority settings across the w...
Cyber security meets security politics: Complex technology, fragmented politics, and networked science
In the last decade, cyber incidents have become more expensive, more disruptive, and in many cases more political, with a new body of theoretically informed research emerging in parallel. This article provides the intellectual history to situate this literature in its broader evolutionary cont...
Diffusion of Al-Shabaab through ungoverned spaces: can the inkblot logic provide an explanation?
This article proposes a methodology for analyzing the social network behaviour of the extremist group (Al-Shabaab) within the context of ungoverned spaces in the Horn of Africa. Inkblot logic is introduced as an analytical framework that highlights the role of ‘loose bonds’ and ‘hard bonds’ ...
The missing jihad. Why have there been no jihadist civil wars in Southeast Asia?
Why has there been no jihadist civil war in Southeast Asia? Although there has been a global surge in armed conflicts where at least one side fights for self-proclaimed Islamist aspirations, the region of Southeast Asia stands out by not having experienced a single jihadist civil war after 1975. Yet...
The Inadvertent Influence of Peacekeeping and Peace Support Operations on Ghana’s Armed Forces
Ghana’s Armed Forces (GAF) have demonstrated an aptitude for tackling insecurity, professionalism, and the capacity to contribute to and support United Nations-led Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) and African Peace Support Operations (PSOs). Displaying its preparedness to deal with emerging challeng...
Motivations for Jihad and Cognitive Dissonance – A Qualitative Analysis of Former Swedish Jihadists
This study is based on interviews with three former Swedish jihadists, and it uses cognitive dissonance theory to analyze how their motivations for jihad changed—from the early stages of radicalization to fighting as part of a jihadist group and finally leaving jihad. It argues that cognitive diss...
The contribution of community gardens to food security in the Maphephetheni uplands
Although community gardens are widely promoted, very little empirical evidence exists of their contribution to food security. This study evaluated the contribution of community gardens to alle viating food insecurity for 53 community gardeners in Maphephetheni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using ...
American Cold War Strategy and the Absence of “Swift and Effective Retribution” for the 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing
Ronald Reagan entered the White House in 1981 as the president who promised to confront the foreign enemies of the United States. Whilst the Soviet Union remained the single greatest threat to the United States, the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran dramatically raised concerns over international terroris...
Humiliation and perceived power loss as drivers of radicalisation vulnerability in Northwestern Europe
This study explores the relationships between humiliation, perceived power loss, discrimination, and vulnerability to radicalisation across Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Analysing survey data from 5,501 respondents, we developed a measure of radicalisation vulnerability t...
Showing 50 from 1505