A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

START hosts virtual book talk on “Insurgent Terrorism”

In February, Center for Policy Research Director Victor Asal, University of Essex Department of Government Reader Brian J. Phillips and University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Dean R. Karl Rethemeyer provided a virtual talk on their new START-Oxford University Press book, “Insurgent Terrorism: Intergroup Relationships and the Killing of Civilians.”

Insurgent groups consist of individuals willing to organize and commit acts of violence to achieve their goals. By nature, they depend on public support, yet they sometimes target private civilians in addition to military personnel and government officials. This book examines insurgent embeddedness--the extent to which an insurgent group is enmeshed in relationships with the state, other insurgents, and the public--in order to understand why they attack civilians.

Using the Big Allied and Dangerous (BAAD) dataset, this book drills into attacks on civilians in specific contexts, including schools, news media, and nonmilitary/nongovernment spaces designed for the general public. This book goes one step further, presenting in-depth analyses of intergroup alliances and rivalries, their changes and determinants over time, and the implications for several types of violence against civilians.

Insurgent Terrorism offers a comprehensive, modern approach for academics, students, and policy practitioners who seek to understand relationships between insurgent organizations.

Those interested can view the recording of this event at this link.

About the book series

The START-Oxford University Press Book Series is edited by Laura Dugan (START Affiliate, The Ohio State University), Gary Ackerman (START Affiliate, University at Albany) and Anthony Lemieux (START Affiliate, Georgia State University). The series approaches terrorism conceptually as having a developmental “life-cycle.” Within this perspective, the series treats terrorism as a phenomenon that has a set of interdependent phases: (1) the origins of extremism and the formation of terrorist groups; (2) terrorist dynamics and persistence; and (3) societal responses to terrorism.

Current and forthcoming titles in this series