This innovative work examines the concept of the informal network and its practical utility within the context of counterterrorism. Drawing together a range of practitioner and academic expertise it explores the character and evolution of informal networks, addressing the complex relationship between kinship groups, transnational linkages and the role that globalization and new technologies play in their formation and sustainability. By analysing the informal branch of networked organization in the context of security policy-making, the chapters in this book seek to address three questions: how do informal networks operate? which combination of factors draws individuals to form such networks? what are their structures? Informal networks are necessarily elusive owing to their ad hoc development, amorphous structures and cultural specificity but they are nonetheless pivotal to the way organizations conduct business. Identifying and manipulating such networks is central to effective policy-making. Terrorism, Security and the Power of Informal Networks argues that informal networks are important to policy-makers and their mastery is critical to success both in tackling the challenges of hostile networks and in the processes of organizational reform currently preoccupying governments. Practitioners, policy-makers and researchers in the fields of international politics, international relations, history and political science will find much to interest them in this timely resource.

The Cambridge History of Terrorism provides a comprehensive reference work on terrorism from a distinctly historical perspective, offering systematic analyses of key themes, problems and case studies from terrorism's long past. Featuring expert scholars from across the globe, this volume examines the phenomenon of terrorism through regional case studies, largely written by local scholars, as well as through thematic essays exploring the relationship between terrorism and other historical forces. Each of the chapters - whether thematic or case-study focused - embodies new, research-based analysis which will help to inform and reshape our understanding of one of the world's most challenging problems.

Which is the role of the European Union in dealing with crises that go beyond the nation states borders – terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure, organised crime, natural and man-made disasters? The authors assess the main challenge for the EU: the need to operate in a multidimensional setting where with a wide range of actors, such as member states, national and international NGOs, international organisations (NATO and the UN in primis), as well as a wide range of activities, rules and norms are generated for these diversified crises.

This volume examines the trajectory of Pakistan’s democratic transition and the implications of this change for its security. In May 2013, for the first time in its 66-year history, Pakistan saw an elected government complete a full term in office and transfer power through the ballot box to another civilian government. At this important moment in Pakistan’s history, this collection brings together twelve leading academics and writers with an aim to provide a far-reaching analysis of the current situation in Pakistan and emergent trends. Drawing on history, diverse theoretical perspectives, and empirical evidence, three themed sections deal respectively with democratic transition (including Islam and democracy, civil-military relations, and economics), contested borders and contested spaces (the Pashtun belt, Kashmir, and intra-Islamic conflict), and regionalism (bilateral relations from both Pakistani and Indian perspectives, US-Pakistan relations, and nuclear weapons dynamics). Together the contributors explore the status of Pakistan’s democratic transition, contemporary security dynamics, and wider regional security and political dynamics, and the complex interplay of the three, to provide a wide-ranging analysis of Pakistan’s contemporary national and regional challenges, its impact on the region, and evidence of some positive trends for Pakistan’s future. The book will be of much interest to students of South Asian politics, Asian security, governance, and IR in general as well as policy-makers, diplomats, and military professionals.

Over 1,700 total pages ... Contains the following publications: Visual Propaganda and Extremism in the Online Environment COUNTERMOBILIZATION: UNCONVENTIONAL SOCIAL WARFARE Social Media: More Than Just a Communications Medium HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS THE DYNAMICS OF PROTEST Finding Weakness in Jihadist Propaganda NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING OF ONLINE PROPAGANDA AS A MEANS OF PASSIVELY MONITORING AN ADVERSARIAL IDEOLOGY AIRWAVES AND MICROBLOGS: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF AL-SHABAAB’S PROPAGANDA EFFECTIVENESS THE ISLAMIC STATE’S TACTICS IN SYRIA: ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SHIFTING A PEACEFUL ARAB SPRING INTO TERRORISM TWEETING NAPOLEON AND FRIENDING CLAUSEWITZ: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE #MILITARYSTRATEGIST TROLLING NEW MEDIA: VIOLENT EXTREMIST GROUPS RECRUITING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA The Combatant Commander’s Guide to Countering ISIS’s Social Media Campaign #Terror - Social Media and Extremism THE WEAPONIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA THE COMMAND OF THE TREND: SOCIAL MEDIA AS A WEAPON IN THE INFORMATION AGE PEACEFUL PROTEST, POLITICAL REGIMES, AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE THE WEAPONIZED CROWD: VIOLENT DISSIDENT IRISH REPUBLICANS EXPLOITATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY WITHIN ONLINE COMMUNITIES Seizing the Digital High Ground: Military Operations and Politics in the Social Media Era PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE CHARACTERISTIC AFFECTS ON EASE OF USE AND PEER INFLUENCE OF NEW MEDIA USERS OVER TIME FREE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: A DUAL-EDGED SWORD

Politics is intuitively about relationships, but until recently the network perspective has not been a dominant part of the methodological paradigm that political scientists use to study politics. This volume is a foundational statement about networks in the study of politics.

This edited collection surveys how non-Western states have responded to the threats of domestic and international terrorism in ways consistent with and reflective of their broad historical, political, cultural and religious traditions. It presents a series of eighteen case studies of counterterrorism theory and practice in the non-Western world, including countries such as China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Brazil. These case studies, written by country experts and drawing on original language sources, demonstrate the diversity of counter-terrorism theory and practice and illustrate how the world ‘sees’ and responds to terrorism is different from the way that the United States, the United Kingdom and many European governments do. This volume – the first ever comprehensive account of counter-terrorism in the non-Western world – will be of interest to students, scholars, students and policymakers responsible for developing counter-terrorism policy.