As Terrorism Evolves
Media, Religion, and Governance

Examines terrorism's ongoing evolution and the linkages between media, religion, and governance to provide a sophisticated overview of twenty-first-century terrorism.

Philip Seib (Author)

9781108419703, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 October 2017

202 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 1.6 cm, 0.41 kg

'USC journalism professor Philip Seib has done a great service for those who follow media-driven events connected with terrorism. … This book could be a must-read for some international media classes as well undergraduates and graduate students in schools of diplomacy and should be in the possession of all news organizations that cover modern-day terrorism.' Arab Media & Society

Some of the world's most lethal terrorist organizations have become media-centric enterprises, while also hijacking a major world religion, holding large swathes of physical territory, and governing their own virtual states. In this concise and penetrating book, Seib traces how terrorism has proliferated and increased significantly in menace in the relatively brief period between the rise of al-Qaeda and the creation of Islamic State. With close attention to the linkages between media, religion, and violence, the book offers incisive analysis of how organizations such as Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram operate and reflects on how terrorism may continue to evolve. Seib argues that twenty-first-century terrorism is enabled by new media and depends on social networks as connective tissue, while interacting simultaneously with religion and socio-economic and political grievances. As Terrorism Evolves prescribes new measures for counterterrorism efforts, underscores the importance of soft power, and makes a strong case for recognizing that we have entered an era of terrorism of undetermined duration.

Preface
Introduction
1. The nature of the beast
2. In God's name
3. Organizing terrorism
4. Media weaponry
5. What lies ahead?
Selected bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Press & journalism [KNTJ], Terrorism, armed struggle [JPWL], International relations [JPS], Media studies [JFD]