Al-Qa’ida: in the 80s they were in Afghanistan, supported by America and fighting the Russians. In the new century they have metastasized throughout the world’s geopolitical body. Where were they in the 90s? Unholy Terror provides the answer, with all its terrifying implications for our world today. This book provides the missing piece in the puzzle of al-Qa’ida’s transformation from an isolated fighting force into a lethal global threat: the Bosnian war of 1992 to 1995. John R. Schindler reveals the unexamined role that radical Islam played in that terrible conflict--and the ill-considered contributions of American policy to al-Qa’ida’s growth. His book explores a truth long hidden from view: that, like Afghanistan in the 1980s, Bosnia in the 1990s became a training ground for the mujahidin. Unholy Terror at last exposes the shocking story of how bin Laden successfully exploited the Bosnian conflict for his own ends--and of how the U. S. Government gave substantial support to his unholy warriors, leading to blowback of epic proportions.

How much insider trading occurred in the days leading up to 9-11? How compromised is the evidence against alleged hijackers? Why were there no military interceptions? To what extent does the testimony of more than five hundred firefighters differ from official reports of what happened at the World Trade Center buildings that day? How inseparably connected are Western covert operations to al-Qaeda? How is Islamophobia used to sustain US imperialism? What was the 9-11 Commission? With contributions from Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Four Arrows, David Ray Griffin, Jay Kolar, David MacGregor, Diana Ralph, Kevin Ryan, and Bryan Sacks, this path-breaking work examines 9-11 and its background, showing how much remains unknown and where further investigation and debate is needed.

There are thousands of followers of non-Judeo-Christian faith groups in American correctional institutions. Research suggests that many of these prisoners began their incarceration with little or no religious calling, but converted during their imprisonment. According to the FBI, some of these prisoners may be vulnerable to terrorist recruitment. The purpose of this study is three-fold: (1) to collect baseline information on non-traditional religions in U.S. correctional institutions; (2) to identify the personal and social motivations for prisoners’ conversions to these faith groups; and (3) to assess the prisoners’ potential for terrorist recruitment. The study creates a starting point for more in-depth research on the relationship between prisoners’ conversion to non-traditional religions and extremist violence. Figure. This is a print on demand report.

Spätestens seit den Anschlägen vom 11. September sind nicht-staatliche Kriegsakteure in den Mittelpunkt des wissenschaftlichen und außenpolitischen Interesses gerückt. Doch wie lassen sich ihr Handeln, ihre Strategien und ihre Organisation begreifen? Klaus Schlichte betont den politischen Charakter bewaffneter Gruppen, für den der Zusammenhang von Gewalt und Legitimität zentral ist. Damit setzt er sich von jenen Arbeiten ab, die ökonomische Interessen oder »religiösen Fundamentalismus « zur Erklärung heranziehen. Sein Vergleich von 15 Ländern zeigt, dass nicht-staatliche Gruppen immer in engen Beziehungen zu Staaten stehen und das Ziel haben, ihre Macht der Gewalt in politische Herrschaft zu transformieren.

Warring samurai clans fight with swords and magic for the Emperor’s favor with these collected Legend of the Five Rings novellas, including a brand-new novella of the Crane Clan. Ice and Snow by Katrina Ostrander – a surprise attack and courtly machinations challenge the untested heir to the Crane Clan to keep the peace and prove her value to her family. The Sword and the Spirits by Robert Denton III – the champion of the Phoenix Clan must save her lost love from the darkness consuming him, and from the menace of a desecrated shrine. Whispers of Shadow and Steel by Mari Murdock – in the Scorpion City of Lies, the “only honest Scorpion” magistrate is caught between family and finding justice in a murder case. Across the Burning Sands by Daniel Lovat Clark – the future heir to the mighty Unicorn Clan faces duplicity, assassins, betrayal, and even sorcery as he seeks peace with the caliph of al-Zawira.

"Stigma and Culture "by J. Lorand Matory is a courageous auto-ethnographic examination of the stigma attached to color. The work is a major contribution to a new scholarly genre, a form of anthropological theory-building in memoir form. Its varied gestures include: paeans to past mentors; rich recollections of childhood; ethnographic analyses of various cultural institutions, especially Howard University; re-conceptualizations of Caribbean/African significances vis-a-vis African Americans in the United States, and more. Such a wide-ranging effort is precisely what recommends this bookand what makes it like few other books in Anthropology or Africana Studies. Matory argues that several ironies highlight class-based (seemingly post-racial) social formations while also reinforcing racialization and challenging such racial logics from within. He shows how educational institutions are spaces for the paradoxical production of both elitist/post-ethnic class identities and for the fostering of would-be ethnic particularity and differenceall at the same time. Providing a nuanced window into variously situated Black groups in the United States (including the seemingly exotic little races or tri-racial isolates such as Louisiana Creoles and the oft-discussed Gullah/Geechee), this book argues that the longstanding scholarly assumption about social isolation as a causal mechanism for the cultural legitimacy of such groups is absolutely wrong. Instead, Matory shows that all of these groups are quite decidedly produced in and through contact with their ostensible others. Ethnic purities and particularities are the byproducts of anxieties and efforts birthed from the contact that such purities are meant to deny. This is one of the book s most powerful interventions, and Matory provides compelling arguments for how so many get this wrong. Ultimately "Stigma and Culture" explains not just the continuing significance of race and ethnicity as seen in various American contexts, but also makes the case for how new and old ethnic differences are enabled and produced in the contemporary moment."