Suchergebnisse

Comments on Sara King's "Military Social Influence in the Global Information Environment: A Civilian Primer" (2010). The author addresses three issues: ethical concerns stemming from scientists/military collaboration, question of effectiveness of the present state-of-the-art military Information Operations (IOs), and possible improvements to the present IO. Adapted from the source document.

Terrorism and radicalization came to the forefront of news and politics in the US after the unforgettable attacks of September 11th, 2001. When George W. Bush famously asked "Why do they hate us?," the President echoed the confusion, anger and fear felt by millions of Americans, while also creating a politicized discourse that has come to characterize and obscure discussions of both phenomenon in the media. Since then the American public has lived through a number of domestic attacks and threats, and watched international terrorist attacks from afar on television sets and computer screens. The anxiety and misinformation surrounding terrorism and radicalization are perhaps best detected in questions that have continued to recur in the last decade: "Are terrorists crazy?"; "Is there a profile of individuals likely to become terrorists?"; "Is it possible to prevent radicalization to terrorism?" Fortunately, in the two decades since 9/11, a significant body of research has emerged that can help provide definitive answers. As experts in the psychology of radicalization, Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley propose twelve mechanisms that can move individuals, groups, and mass publics from political indifference to sympathy and support for terrorist violence. Radicalization to Terrorism: What Everyone Needs to Know synthesizes original and existing research to answer the questions raised after each new attack, including those committed by radicalized Americans. It offers a rigorously informed overview of the insight that will enable readers to see beyond the relentless new cycle to understand where terrorism comes from and how best to respond to it.

'The Marvel of Martyrdom' is about how martyrs can change the world and how self-sacrifice can change lives. The text starts with famous and influential martyrs, such as Jesus and Gandhi. But the pinnacles of martyrdom can only be reached via the plains of everyday selflessness. Every martyr examined began with smaller forms of self-sacrifice familiar to everyone - every parent, every lover, every friend. Every famous martyr succeeded in challenging injustice by appealing to people's capacity to appreciate self-sacrifice and to follow in the martyr's footsteps with sacrifices of their own. Unravelling how martyr stories spread from a few witnesses to millions of people, the authors consider martyrdom and self-sacrifice together in cases of notable martyrs (Andrej Sakharov) and less-well known ones (The Heaven's Hundred), fake martyrs (Horst Wessel), and fictional ones (Harry Potter)

This accessible book identifies twelve mechanisms of political radicalization that can move individuals, groups, and the masses to increased sympathy and support for political violence. Terrorism is an extreme form of radicalization, and the book describes pathways to terrorism to demonstrate the twelve mechanisms at work. Written by two psychologists who are acknowledged radicalization experts and consultants to the Department of Homeland Security, Friction draws heavily on case histories. The case material is wide-ranging - drawn from Russia in the late 1800s, the US in the 1970s, and the ra