“The Terrorist Mind: An Update”
Read a January 9, 2010 New York Times story exploring research on what motivates terrorists.
Tag: extremism
“Moral Outrage and Moral Repair: Reflections on 9/11 and its Afterlife”
At an April conference at Fordham University in New York, called “Moral Outrage and Moral Repair: Reflections on 9/11 and its Afterlife,” many speakers explored the connections between violence and religion. Transcripts of their presentations are available on the website.
“After Norway and before 9/11 anniversary, U.S. answers questions about homegrown threats”
Read an Aug. 9, 2011, JTA story about the threat of homegrown “domestic terrorism.”
“Threat of Right-Wing Extremism in U.S. Debated by Feds, Analysts”
Right-wing extremist violence — against Muslims, Jews, abortion clinics and providers, and the government, for example — is sometimes perpetrated by suspects using Christianity as a justification or motivation. Suspect groups and individuals have drawn scrutiny from the FBI, but the extent and risk of the threat remains a matter of debate, as a July […]
“Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?”
Read an essay in the September/October 2011 edition of Foreign Policy magazine by Charles Kurzman titled “Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?” Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, is […]
“Threat of Homegrown Islamic Terrorism”
Read a December 2010 background paper from the Council on Foreign Relations on the “Threat of Homegrown Islamist Terrorism.”
“Low Bar Set in U.S. Counterradicalization Strategy”
Read an Aug. 4, 2011, essay by Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, that criticizes the White House’s August policy paper on preventing violent extremism in the United States. Husain argues that the White House does not focus sufficiently on the threat of homegrown Islamic extremism, and offers […]
“Most Muslim Americans See No Justification for Violence”
A Gallup Poll published in August 2011 showed the views of members of different religious communities to the question of whether terrorist violence is ever justified. Nearly nine in 10 Muslim Americans said violent attacks on civilians are never justified, the highest level of disapproval among the groups surveyed.
“‘Terrorists in Love’: The Psychology of Extremism”
Read an October 5, 2011 NPR story about a controversial book by Ken Ballen, Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals. Ballen spent five years interviewing more than 100 Islamic extremists to learn what motivated them to carry out violent attacks against the United States and others they considered enemies of Islam.