Engineers of Jihad

"This magnificent treatise combines a deep concern for one of the grave problems of our age--the recruitment of jihadists intent on terrorizing the world--with a Sherlock Holmes approach to a solution. Arthur Conan Doyle might have named the story--had this been fiction--'the case of the engineers who barked too loudly.' As readers discover 'who dunnit' and why, they learn to separate popular myths about Islamic terrorism from what makes jihadists tick."--David D. Laitin, Stanford University"Engineers of Jihad should take a front-and-center position on the bookshelves of anyone trying to understand jihad in the context of radicalization--Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog have clearly made an invaluable contribution at a pivotal time in history."--Raphael Perl, executive director of the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes"A groundbreaking study that is also compulsively readable, representing the very best example of social science methods applied to the study of terrorism. . . . An analytically rigorous work that reads like a mystery, even as it teaches us how empirical research on terrorism should be conducted."--Jessica Stern, coauthor of ISIS: The State of Terror"This book offers a detailed analysis of the curious overrepresentation of engineers in militant Islamist groups and presents a line of inquiry that is new to the field--namely the study of the relationship between political inclinations and personality traits. The book's originality, sharp focus, and analytical rigor set it apart, and it is likely to become a classic on radical political activism."--Thomas Hegghammer, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment"Why do so many members of violent radical Islamic groups have an engineering background? This book offers new data, interpretations, and explanations of recruitment to violent radical Islamic groups. Engaging and informative, it makes a significant contribution to the study of terrorism."--Scott Gates, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and University of Oslo