This is a review of the book Islamic State: Rewriting History by Michael Griffin. It provides a chronological account of the organization’s emergence and the role that external global actors had on its development. In addition it examines ISIS’ use of media and the possible effects of its expansion on regional relations.

At 2.49 p.m. on April 15 2013 two home-made bombs wreaked carnage at the annual Boston Marathon. As a symbolic target of jihadist terror, the marathon’s finishing line area was particularly well chosen: a crowd celebrating individual runners’ achievements under an array of international flags symbolised an entire Western-led global order. Three died in these explosions; hundreds more were injured (of whom no less than 17 lost limbs). Two more policemen were to die in the four-day manhunt that followed before the bombers, Chechen-American brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were finally stopped. General rejoicing greeted the news that Tamerlan had been killed, and Dzhokhar arrested. As Michele McPhee comments simply: ‘I know a lot of police officers who didn’t have to pay for a round of beers that night’ (p. viii).

Terrorism is costly and unlikely to survive any selection process that favors behaviors with higher payoffs. Our evolutionary game model and agent based computer simulations show that group benefits offset the within-group behavioral selection against terrorism. Only those displaying the fittest strategy choices will thrive and multiply. By increasing the number of alliances and the size of their membership, terror groups can contribute to their longevity. Fitness reducing strategies fail to pass on to the new generation. We conclude that costly terror campaigns may reduce popular support among terror organizations’ potential constituency and thus, hasten the demise of terror groups.

Whilst the interest of memory scholars in political violence and more specifically in terrorism is not novel, there appears to be a certain urgency to reflect upon memories of terrorist violence in collective, European immaginarium. By questioning how to deal with these memories and how the process of remembrance of the victims of terrorism will pave its way into a European memory culture, this article analyses spontaneous memorialization of the victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels (2016).

The growing sense of insecurity in the Western world due to home-grown Islamist terrorism prompts further research on the topic. Based on previous literature, the current paper attempts to determine whether factors can be identified which contribute to Western individuals joining Islamic extremist organizations and engaging in terrorist behavior in the West. Four factors are discussed: While extensive scientific literature supports the view that identity crises and relative deprivation play a crucial role in turning Western individuals to terrorism, evidence on the role of personal characteristics and empathy, on the other hand, is still too scarce to allow any clear scientific judgment.

This study utilizes the beheading of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014. The content analyses of 980 comments from three political blogs (Townhall - conservative, Daily Kos - liberal, and The Moderate Voice - moderate) reveal that the majority of blog users exhibited their subjective thoughts and opinions rather than engaging in deliberative communication based on deep reasoning. Blog users also did not show a reciprocal attitude, mostly ignoring different voices. Most comments were made based on one-sided perspectives.

During the first two years of Ronald Reagan’s second term the United States developed an offensive strategy for dealing with conflict in the developing world. States like Nicaragua were the prime target of this policy. Scholars refer to this as the Reagan offensive: the first time that the United States eschewed the norms of containment and sought to “roll-back” the gains of communism. However, the Reagan offensive was also significantly driven by a response to the emergent threat of international terrorism. U.S. policy with Nicaragua demonstrates the importance of terrorism in the development of a more aggressive United States.

Review: Gary J. Bass (2014); 'The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide'; Hurst & Co: London

This article explores findings from a global survey of the terrorism research community to explore whether states may be deemed capable of conducting cyberterrorism. The article begins with a brief review of recent literature on state terrorism, identifying empirical and analytical justifications for greater use of this concept. Following a discussion of our research methodology we make two arguments. First, that there exists considerable ‘expert’ support for the validity of the proposition that states can indeed engage in cyberterrorism. Second, that whether states are deemed capable of cyberterrorism has implications for subsidiary debates, including around the threat that cyberterrorism poses.

This commentary evaluates the use of beheadings by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. We place beheadings in a broader historical context and draw from academic research in terrorism studies and the social sciences to explain why the Islamic State has adopted such brutal tactics. We outline the strategic logic of beheading and evaluate explanations related to symbolic politics, culture, and organizational dynamics. We conclude with a discussion about the future of Islamic State violence.