In the world of terrorism, knowledge is a critical asset. Recent studies have revealed that, among international terrorists, there is a global sharing of ideas, tactics, strategies, and lessons learned. Teaching Terror examines this sharing of information in the terrorist world, shaping our understanding of, and response to, the global threat of terrorism. Chapters cover various aspects of individual and organizational learning, some using a general level of analysis and others presenting case studies of individual terrorist groups. These groups teach each other through a variety of means, including training camps and the Internet. Terrorist networks are also learning organizations, drawing on situational awareness, adapting their behavior, and, to give one example, improving not just their use of improvised explosive devices, but also rendering technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite phones ineffective. This book provides a wealth of insights on the transfer of knowledge in the world of terrorism, and offers policy implications for counterterrorism professionals, scholars, and policymakers.

In the world of terrorism, knowledge is a critical asset. Recent studies have revealed that, among international terrorists, there is a global sharing of ideas, tactics, strategies, and lessons learned. Teaching Terror examines this sharing of information in the terrorist world, shaping our understanding of, and response to, the global threat of terrorism. Chapters cover various aspects of individual and organizational learning, some using a general level of analysis and others presenting case studies of individual terrorist groups. These groups teach each other through a variety of means, including training camps and the Internet. Terrorist networks are also learning organizations, drawing on situational awareness, adapting their behavior, and, to give one example, improving not just their use of improvised explosive devices, but also rendering technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite phones ineffective. This book provides a wealth of insights on the transfer of knowledge in the world of terrorism, and offers policy implications for counterterrorism professionals, scholars, and policymakers.

Two international policy analysts scrutinize the increasingly important operative and support roles women play in various terrorist organizations around the world. Women as Terrorists: Mothers, Recruiters, and Martyrs is the first post-September 11 book to examine women's multifarious roles in terrorist organizations of all stripes around the world. It covers political, religious, ethno-separatist, and Maoist groups in countries as diverse as Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Africa, the Philippines, and Northern Ireland. Modeling terrorist organizations as purposive organizations that depend for support, recruitment, and rationale on a culturally defined community of sympathizers, the authors explore why women become involved in terrorist groups, how terrorist leaders turn the societal attributes of women to advantage in designing terrorist campaigns, and how women fight for the right to assume strategic and combat roles in terrorist groups. The authors conclude with a review and projection of the rapidly evolving trends in the use of women in terrorist organizations, paying particular attention to al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups and considering the implications of their findings for counterterrorist strategies.

Terrorist groups - both inside and outside the al Qaeda network - sometimes form mutually beneficial partnerships to exchange "best practices." Operation Enduring Freedom and the global war on terrorism forced many members of al Qaeda to disperse, while like-minded terrorist groups have formed regional alliances and other terrorist groups that are not linked ideologically have formed mutually beneficial partnerships. Understanding these interactions is essential to ongoing and future efforts to counter terrorist threats. This volume examines how eleven terrorist groups in three distinct areas (Mindanao, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and southwest Colombia) have attempted to exchange technologies and knowledge. The authors chose case studies in regions where terrorist groups are highly capable, thus the technologies and exchange processes are weighed toward success and should be of significant concern to the U.S. national security community. The authors examine a variety of technologies and exchange processes, ranging from remote-detonation devises to converted field ordnance to katyusha rockets. The authors' conclusions relate to improving threat assessments, disrupting innovation processes, and affecting terrorist groups' cost-benefit analyses. This volume should be of interest to homeland security policymakers, the national security community, as well as academics, students, and professionals in counterterrorism, homeland security, and organizational learning.

The threat posed by a terrorist group is determined in large part by its ability to build its organizational capabilities and bring those capabilities to bear in violent action. Technology systems, meanwhile, play a key role within a larger, integrated homeland security strategy to target groups' efforts and protect the public from terrorist violence. technology systems designed to protect the public, actively seek ways to evade or counteract these systems. This volume examines a variety of terrorist groups - including Palestinian terrorist groups, Jemaah Islamiya and affiliated groups, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the Provisional Irish Republican Army - to understand terrorists' countertechnology efforts. Fully exploring adversaries' countertechnology behaviors can expose vulnerabilities in U.S. defenses and help the nation make the best choices to protect it from the threat of terrorism. technologies as well as planning the technological components of homeland security efforts.

Understanding how terrorist groups learn may aid in developing strategies to combat terrorist activities Better ways are needed to understand how terrorist groups become more effective and dangerous. Learning is the link between what a group wants to do and its ability to actually do it; therefore, a better understanding of group learning might contribute to the design of better measures for combating terrorism. This study analyzes current understanding of group learning and the factors that influence it and outlines a framework that should be useful in present analytical efforts and for identifying areas requiring further study.

Case studies of the organizational learning activities of five major terrorist groups and a methodology for ascertaining what and why they learned Better ways are needed to understand how terrorist groups increase their effectiveness and become more dangerous. Learning is the link between what a group wants to do and its ability to actually do it; therefore, a better understanding of group learning might contribute to the design of better measures for combating terrorism. This study analyzes current understanding of group learning and the factors that influence it. It presents detailed case studies of learning in five terrorist organizations and develops a methodology for ascertaining what and why groups have learned, providing insights into their learning processes.

Analyzes past U.S. strategic influence campaigns and looks at how and in what circumstances such campaigns can best be applied to today's struggle against terrorism. U.S. government decisionmakers face a number of challenges as they attempt to form policies that aim to dissuade terrorists from attacking the United States, deflect youths from joining terrorist groups, and persuade the leaders of states and nongovernmental institutions to withhold support for terrorists. The successes or failures of such policies and campaigns have long-lasting effects. The findings of this research help U.S. decisionmakers more closely refine how and in what circumstances strategic influence campaigns can best be applied.

As part of the RAND Corporation's Thinking Strategically About Combating Terrorism project, this report develops a way to assess and analyse the danger posed by various terrorist organizations around the world.

This title examines the social and economic development policies enacted by Israel, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom to inhibit a resurgence of terrorism within their jurisdictions, with the aim of informing U.S. decision makers as they develop policy to counter terrorism.