Terrorism and the Pandemic: Weaponizing of COVID-19

by Rohan Gunaratna, Katalin Petho-Kiss

Overview

The global pandemic has offered extraordinary opportunities for extremists and terrorists to mobilize themselves and revive as more powerful actors in the security landscape. But could these threat groups actually capitalize on the coronavirus crisis and advance their malevolent agendas? Utilizing the largest COVID-19-related terrorism database, the book presents an analysis built upon a quantitative and qualitative comparison between the nature of both the radical Islamist and the far-right-related threat in 2018 and 2020. It provides, for the first time, a true picture of novel trends since the pandemic outbreak.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800738010
Publisher:	Berghahn Books
Publication date:	02/10/2023
Pages:	213
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Rohan Gunaratna is Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. He is the author of 20 books including The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives and Networks (2019, Oxford UniversityPress, co-authored with Arie W. Kruglanski and Jocelyn J. Bélanger).

Katalin Petho-Kiss is a CBRNE specialist with expertise on counter terrorism. She is a Senior Fellow at the Global Peace Institute and a Senior Analyst at the Counter Terrorism Information and Criminal Analysis Centre in Hungary.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Evolution of the Threat
Chapter 2. How Have Radical Islamists Capitalized on the Pandemic?
Chapter 3. How Could Far Right Extremists Exploit the Corona virus Crisis?
Chapter 4. Beyond the Radical Islamist and Right-Wing Threat
Chapter 5. Novel Terrorist Tactics and Targets
Chapter 6. Future Trajectories for Emerging Radical Islamist and Far Right Trends

Conclusion: Policy Recommendations

Annexes
Annex 1. Key Radical Islamist and Far right Messages on the Pandemic
Annex 2. Statistics on Extremists’ COVID-19-related Activities

Index

Editorial Reviews

“This important, groundbreaking work will appeal to a range of specialists and more general audiences. The research is well-organized and will contribute to several key public policy areas, and will have a listing impact on several fields.” • John Harrison, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi

“This book is an invaluable addition to the literature on terrorism and COVID-19 interconnections.” • Richard J. Chasdi, The George Washington University

“Katalin Pethö-Kiss and Rohan Gunaratna have assembled a comprehensive narrative on the status of terrorist violence in the shadow of the pandemic. Sorting through an extensive body of material they assess terrorist motivations, capabilities, and tactics of groups and individuals covering a wide ideological spectrum. This is essential baseline reading for counter terrorism analysts and operators in the current day and future historians looking back on the period.” • John Parachini, RAND Corporation

From the Publisher