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  • Edges of Radicalization: Ideas, Individuals and Networks in Violent Extremism

    02.14.2012

    The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point is pleased to announce the release of a new report entitled "Edges of Radicalization: Ideas, Individuals and Networks in Violent Extremism," by Scott Helfstein.

    This paper examines radicalization as a social phenomenon through the behavior of individuals and networks. Violent extremists, individuals pursuing political change through violence, remain committed to striking the U.S. homeland and its interests abroad. It is important to understand how radical ideas spread to counter or contain this immediate and persistent threat. …

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The CTC Sentinel

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About the Sentinel

The Sentinel is a monthly, independent publication that leverages the Center’s global network of scholars and practitioners to understand and confront contemporary threats posed by terrorism and other forms of political violence.

February 2012
Contributing Author(s):
  • Samuel Logan
  • Matthew DuPee
  • Benedetta Berti
  • Naureen Chowdhury Fink
  • Sentinel Staff
January 2012
Contributing Author(s):
  • Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens
  • Leonard A. Cole
  • Petter Nesser
  • Peter Chalk
  • Marisa L. Porges

Recent Publications

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Terrorist Ideology

Understanding the ideological underpinnings of violent groups is crucial to countering and defeating terrorist entities. This research program examines the ideas driving modern terrorism, the transmission of those ideas, and the doctrinal schisms within violent movements.

Self Inflicted Wounds
Debates and Divisions within al-Qa'ida's and its Periphery
Author(s):
  • Anne Stenersen
  • Bernard Haykel
  • Brynjar Lia
  • Marc Lynch
  • Mohammed M. Hafez
  • Reuven Paz
  • Steven Brooke
  • Vahid Brown
Editor(s):
  • Assaf Moghadam
  • Brian Fishman
The Jihadis’ Path to Self-Destruction
Author(s):
  • Nelly Lahoud

Terrorist Strategy and Structure

The landscape of terrorist actors and the strategies they employ are consistently evolving. The strategy and structure program examines the actors, organizational platforms, and violent methods that terrorists use in pursuit of their goals.

A False Foundation? AQAP, Tribes and…
Editor(s):
  • Gabriel Koehler-Derrick
Success, Lethality, and Cell Structure Across…
Author(s):
  • Dominick Wright
  • Scott Helfstein

South Asia

South Asia faces unique and complex challenges stemming from growing anti-Western sentiment, nuclear armed regional rivals, and a complex blend of militant actors. This research program contextualizes the nature of the terrorist threat emanating from and developing within Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh.

The Haqqani Nexus and the Evolution…
Author(s):
  • Don Rassler
  • Vahid Brown
Shiism and Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan
Identity Politics, Iranian Influence, and Tit-for-Tat Violence
Author(s):
  • Hassan Abbas

Emerging Threats

The Emerging Threats research program informs the academic and policy communities on nascent and underappreciated terrorist threats. This program looks across the phenomenon of terrorism and focuses on the evolution, innovation among existing terrorist actors, and the emergence of new threats.

Radical Islamic Ideology In Southeast Asia
Author(s):
  • Scott Helfstein
Al-Qa'ida's (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of…
Author(s):
  • Clint Watts
  • Jacob Shapiro
  • Vahid Brown
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