Volume XV, Issue 1 February 2021 PERSPECTIVES on TERRORISM Volume 15, Issue 1
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ISSN 2334-3745 Volume XV, Issue 1 February 2021 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 15, Issue 1 Table of Content Welcome from the Editors...............................................................................................................................1 Articles Bringing Religiosity Back In: Critical Reflection on the Explanation of Western Homegrown Religious Terrorism (Part I)............................................................................................................................................2 by Lorne L. Dawson Dying to Live: The “Love to Death” Narrative Driving the Taliban’s Suicide Bombings............................17 by Atal Ahmadzai The Use of Bay’ah by the Main Salafi-Jihadist Groups..................................................................................39 by Carlos Igualada and Javier Yagüe Counter-Terrorism in the Philippines: Review of Key Issues.......................................................................49 by Ronald U. Mendoza, Rommel Jude G. Ong and Dion Lorenz L. Romano Variations on a Theme? Comparing 4chan, 8kun, and other chans’ Far-right “/pol” Boards....................65 by Stephane J. Baele, Lewys Brace, and Travis G. Coan Research Notes Climate Change—Terrorism Nexus? A Preliminary Review/Analysis of the Literature...................................81 by Jeremiah O. Asaka Inventory of 200+ Institutions and Centres in the Field of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Research.....93 by Reinier Bergema and Olivia Kearney Resources Counterterrorism Bookshelf: Eight Books on Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism-Related Subjects..........151 Reviewed by Joshua Sinai Bibliography: Terrorism by Region – Southeast Asia................................................................................155 Compiled and selected by Judith Tinnes Bibliography: Civilian Casualties of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism..................................................202 Compiled and selected by David Teiner Preparedness for, and Resilience to, Terrorism: Bibliography of Theses...................................................228 (60+ Full-Text Academic Theses (Ph. D. and M.A.) written in English between 2000 and 2020) Compiled and selected by Brody McDonald Recent Online Resources for the Analysis of Terrorism and Related Subjects..........................................233 Compiled and selected by Berto Jongman Announcements Conference Monitor/Calendar of Events.....................................................................................................265 Complied by Olivia Kearney ISSN 2334-3745 I February 2021 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 15, Issue 1 Words of Appreciation for Reviewers and Members of the Editorial Board.............................................269 by Alex P. Schmid and James J.F. Forest TRI Best Thesis Award 2019 & 2020...........................................................................................................271 by Alex P. Schmid About Perspectives on Terrorism...................................................................................................................272 ISSN 2334-3745 II February 2021 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 15, Issue 1 Welcome from the Editors Dear Reader, We are pleased to announce the release of Volume XV, Issue 1 (February 2021) of Perspectives on Terrorism (ISSN 2334-3745). Our independent online journal is an Open Access publication of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI), Vienna, and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) of Leiden University’s Campus in The Hague. All past and recent issues are freely available online at URL: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/ perspectives-on-terrorism. Perspectives on Terrorism (PoT) is indexed by JSTOR, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Now in its fourteenth year, it has nearly 9,400 registered subscribers and many more occasional readers and website visitors in ac- ademia, government and civil society. TheArticles of its six annual issues are fully peer-reviewed by external referees while its Research Notes and other content are subject to internal editorial quality control. The current issue features fiveArticles . The opening article by Lorne Dawson critically examines whether religious motivations have been misrepresented in relation to religious terrorism. The second article by Atal Ahmadzai examines the written and audio-visual materials used by the Taliban to motivate and operationalize suicide bombings in spite of social and cultural resistance in Afghan society. Next Carlos Igualada and Javier Yagüe explain how the practice of declaring bay’ah (taking an oath of allegiance) has helped al-Qaeda and Is- lamic State pursue global expansion by establishing allegiance relationships with dozens of groups around the world. In the fourth article, Ronald Mendoza, Rommel Jude Ong and Dion Lorenz Romano review some key legal issues regarding counterterrorism efforts in the Philippines. And in the final article of this issue, Stephane Baele, Lewys Brace, and Travis Coan compare the content and discussion of six different /pol boards of “chan” forums, identifying how popularity and extreme content can distinguish one from another amid a fragmented subculture. These articles are followed by two Research Notes. In the first, Jeremiah Asaka examines relationships and patterns of interaction between climate change and terrorism. And the second is an extensive inventory of institutions and centers in the field of terrorism research, compiled by Reinier Bergema and Editorial Assistant Olivia Kearney, Our Resources section open with the CT-Bookshelf wherein our Book Reviews Editor Joshua Sinai provides abbreviated reviews of 8 new publications. This is followed by an extensive bibliography on terrorism in South- east Asia by Information Resources Editor Judith Tinnes, and an equally extensive bibliography on civilian casualties of terrorism and counterterrorism, by Assistant Information Resources Editor David Teiner. Then Assistant Editor Brody McDonald provides a bibliography of academic theses on preparedness for, and resil- ience to, terrorism. The reader will also find in this issue a list of new web-based resources on terrorism and related subjects by Associate Editor Berto Jongman and a Conference Calendar compiled by Olivia Kearney. Finally, the February issue concludes with some words of appreciation to all the peer reviewers and members of the Editorial Board who have contributed their time and effort towards the continued success of this open source journal, and a reminder that submissions for the TRI Best Thesis Award competition for the Best Doc- toral Dissertation on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism must be received by 31 March, 2021. The articles and other texts of the current issue of Perspectives on Terrorism have been edited by Alex Schmid and James Forest, the journal’s principal editors. Editorial Assistant Jodi Moore handled proof-reading, while the technical on- line launch of the February 2021 issue of our journal has been in the hands of Associate Editor for IT Christine Boelema Robertus. ISSN 2334-3745 1 February 2021 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 15, Issue 1 Bringing Religiosity Back In: Critical Reflection on the Explanation of Western Homegrown Religious Terrorism (Part I) by Lorne L. Dawson Abstract An unusual feature of the social scientific study of religious terrorism is the erasure of religiosity as a significant motivational factor. This article systematically delineates and criticizes the presence of this peculiar interpretive preference, demonstrating that it is methodologically suspect and theoretically and empirically unhelpful. There are two parts to the critique. Part I (this article), discusses three foundational aspects of the argument: (1) it delineates ten conditions of the critique, to avoid predictable misunderstandings; (2) it specifies three methodological reasons for considering the motivational claims of religious terrorists as potentially important and valid data; and (3) it surveys the history of the study of religious terrorism to identify some extra-methodological influences that may have truncated the analysis of the religious motivations for religious terrorism. Part II (the next article), examines three types of arguments commonly used to minimize the role of religiosity in motivating religious terrorism. Identifying the arguments by the primary interpretive errors they rely on, some arguments (1) mistakenly treat the religious background and knowledge of homegrown jihadists as a sound indicator of their religiosity; others (2) inappropriately apply a modern Western normative conception of religion to homegrown jihadists; and some arguments (3) rely on an overly dichotomized conception of the relationship of social processes and ideology in the process of radicalization. The critique ends with consideration of alternative perspectives, offering a more refined conception of the role of ideology, and more specifically religiosity, in the determination of the actions of religious terrorists. Keywords: Al-Qaeda, extremism, ideology, jihadism, radicalization, religion, terrorism, Islamic State (IS) Introduction The title of this article may appear ironic. Yet it alludes to a very real problem.[1] Surely religious terrorism is about religion in some significant way. This is the assumption underlying much public discourse since 9/11. In many social scientific analyses of religious terrorism, however, researchers discount the significance of religion as a motivator for religious terrorism. In most