In the wake of its "Caliphate" declaration in 2014, the self-described Islamic State has been the focus of countless academic papers, government studies, media commentaries and documentaries. Despite all this attention, persistent myths continue to shape--and misdirect--public understanding and strategic policy decisions. A significant factor in this trend has been a strong disinclination to engage critically with Islamic State's speeches and writings--as if doing so reflects empathy with the movement's goals or, even more absurdly, may itself lead to radicalisation. Going beyond the descriptive and the sensationalist, this volume presents and analyses a series of milestone Islamic State primary source materials. Scholar-practitioners with field experience in confronting the movement explore and contextualise its approach to warfare, propaganda and governance, examining the factors behind its dramatic evolution from failed proto-state in 2010 to standard-bearer of global jihadism in 2014, to besieged insurgency in 2018. The ISIS Reader will help anyone--students and journalists, military personnel, civil servants and inquisitive observers--to better understand not only the evolution of Islamic State and the dynamics of asymmetric warfare, but the importance of primary sources in doing so.

In the wake of its 'Caliphate' declaration in 2014, the self-described Islamic State has been the focus of countless academic papers, government studies, media commentaries and documentaries. Despite all this attention, persistent myths continue to shape - and misdirect - public understanding and strategic policy decisions. A significant factor in this trend has been a strong disinclination to engage critically with Islamic State's speeches and writings - as if doing so reflects empathy with the movement's goals or, even more absurdly, may itself lead to radicalization. Going beyond the descriptive and the sensationalist, this volume presents and analyses a series of milestone Islamic State primary source materials.

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

"When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi climbed the stairs to the pulpit in the Al Nuri Mosque in Mosul on 29 July 2014 to declare the re-establishment of the caliphate, it was, in many ways, the most important symbolic moment in the rise of a group of Islamist militants who just three years earlier had been a bedeviled cadre of guerillas fighting for their survival in the deserts of Iraq. This band of dogged extremists had gone from near extinction in 2011 to controlling a segment of territory roughly the size of Great Britain in 2014. Not only had they survived and thrived as a fighting force, now they had created their own proto-state"--

This book examines the socio-psychological dynamics and drivers of terrorism from a humanistic perspective. Most interpret terrorism as meaningless, asocial violence but this book argues that it's not just a case of seeing 'who is killing whom' but that defining and understanding terrorism is configured by historical context and immediate experience. The author argues that these acts of terrorist violence can be interpreted as the external expression of repressed feelings and impulses that have been tabooized by mainstream society. Upon release, these terrorists gain a new 'nomos' which generates a sense of meaning and significance for them. This book draws on psycho-analytical theories of repression, Heideggerian existentialism, Berger’s anthropological concept of culture as ‘nomos’, and Roger Griffin’s analysis of terrorist fanaticism, adding to the understanding terrorism and criminality from a new perspective and beyond the usual literature situated in political science, security/war and peace studies. This book seeks to provide: a definition of terrorism, an account of the psychological theory, an explanation of the nomic dimension of terroristic violence, an exploration of the relevance of the new approach to understanding: Salafi jihadism, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, the Taliban, White Supremacism, the rise of the Radical Right, and reflections on this for combating terrorism. It appeals to those interested in terrorism, conflict, terrorist radicalization and motivation, international relations, politics and religious politics, and to counter-terrorism agencies.

Women war criminals are far more common than we think. From the Holocaust to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to the Rwandan genocide, women have perpetrated heinous crimes. Few have been punished. These women go unnoticed because their very existence challenges our assumptions about war and about women. Biases about women as peaceful and innocent prevent us from "seeing" women as war criminals—and prevent postconflict justice systems from assigning women blame. Women as War Criminals argues that women are just as capable as men of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition to unsettling assumptions about women as agents of peace and reconciliation, the book highlights the gendered dynamics of law, and demonstrates that women are adept at using gender instrumentally to fight for better conditions and reduced sentences when war ends. The book presents the legal cases of four women: the President (Biljana Plavšic), the Minister (Pauline Nyiramasuhuko), the Soldier (Lynndie England), and the Student (Hoda Muthana). Each woman's complex identity influenced her treatment by legal systems and her ability to mount a gendered defense before the court. Justice, as Steflja and Trisko Darden show, is not blind to gender.

The Science of Reading: A Handbook brings together state-of-the-art reviews of reading research from leading names in the field, to create a highly authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of contemporary knowledge about reading and related skills. Provides comprehensive coverage of the subject, including theoretical approaches, reading processes, stage models of reading, cross-linguistic studies of reading, reading difficulties, the biology of reading, and reading instruction Divided into seven sections:Word Recognition Processes in Reading; Learning to Read and Spell; Reading Comprehension; Reading in Different Languages; Disorders of Reading and Spelling; Biological Bases of Reading; Teaching Reading Edited by well-respected senior figures in the field

Ce Liber Amicorum, qui rend hommage à Gilles de Kerchove, coordinateur de l’Union européenne pour la lutte contre le terrorisme de 2007 à 2021, dresse le bilan de ce qui a été mené dans ce secteur ces dernières années et se penche également sur les défis à venir. Après une introduction retraçant le parcours du récipiendaire, la première partie se penche sur différents aspects de la coopération au sein de l’Union européenne, allant du mandat d’arrêt européen, à la protection des droits fondamentaux en passant par le rôle de certaines institutions ou agences de l’UE. La deuxième partie traite de la coopération entre l’UE et le reste du monde, qu’il s’agisse d’organisations mondiales ou de certains États en particulier, comme les États-Unis. La troisième partie, plus transversale, rassemble des contributions diverses touchant notamment à l’État islamique, au financement du terrorisme, aux victimes et aux nouvelles technologies. L’ouvrage se clôt par une quatrième partie relative à la prévention, à la lutte contre la radicalisation, aux valeurs, à la liberté de la presse et à la littérature. Les auteurs, issus de diverses parties du monde, présentent des profils très divers, parmi lesquels d’éminentes figures politiques, des fonctionnaires européens, des académiques, des magistrats et des journalistes. L’ouvrage a été coordonné par Dr. Christiane Höhn, Conseillère principale de Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, son Assistante personnelle et Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professeur ordinaire à l’Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). * * * This Liber Amicorum, which pays tribute to Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator from 2007 to 2021, takes stock of what has been achieved in this field in recent years and looks at the challenges ahead. After an introduction tracing the recipient’s background, the first part looks at different aspects of cooperation within the European Union, ranging from the European arrest warrant, to the protection of fundamental rights and the role of certain EU institutions or agencies. The second part deals with cooperation between the EU and the rest of the world, both with global organisations and with specific States, such as the United States. The third, cross-cutting part brings together various contributions relating to the Islamic State, the financing of terrorism, victims and new technologies. The book concludes with a fourth part on prevention, the fight against radicalisation, values, freedom of the press and literature. The authors come from various parts of the world and present a wide range of profiles, including prominent political figures, EU officials, academics, magistrates and journalists. The book was coordinated by Dr. Christiane Höhn, Principal Advisor to Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, his Personal Assistant and Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).