Book Review: Magnus Ranstorp and Magnus Normark (eds), Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning: Al-Qaeda and Beyond
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Author | Jennifer Philippa Eggert |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917748485 |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review – International Relations |
Political Studies Review
2018, Vol. 16(4) NP120
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Book Review
748485PSW0010.1177/1478929917748485Political Studies ReviewBook Review – International Relations
book-review2018
Book Review – International Relations
Understanding Terrorism Innovation and
Learning: Al-Qaeda and Beyond by Magnus
Ranstorp and Magnus Normark (eds).
Abingdon: Routledge, 2015. 298pp., £85.00 (h/b),
ISBN 9781138847439
Terrorist groups are often said to be relatively
conservative in their strategic and tactical style.
Nevertheless, terrorist actors worldwide have
shown to be increasingly innovative and crea-
tive. They learn from each other and from their
own actions and innovate accordingly. This
edited volume examines terrorism learning and
innovation, with a focus on al-Qaeda-related
plots in the UK, Denmark and Germany. It con-
tains 13 chapters by academics, counterterrorism
practitioners and journalists from the UK, the
US, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and
Austria. The first part of the book examines ter-
rorism innovation and learning in practice and
theory, while the second part contains four case
studies discussing developments and trends in
al-Qaeda-related terrorism innovation and learn-
ing in the UK, Denmark and Germany in more
detail. The authors focus on these three countries
since ‘there has been a significant volume of
planned, failed and executed terrorist plots’ in
each of them (p. 2). The editors claim the book
will be ‘of much interest to students of terrorism
and counterterrorism, political violence, security
studies and IR’ (book description). However, the
volume is likely to also be useful to practitioners,
including journalists and representatives of gov-
ernment, international institutions and non-gov-
ernmental organisations.
Understanding Terrorism Innovation and
Learning provides detailed insights into why
and how terrorist organisations innovate and
learn. The fact that the volume contains both
theoretical chapters and chapters focusing on
more practice-oriented case studies is particular
useful. The book thus succeeds in avoiding one
major problem with many publications on ter-
rorism, which often tend to either be overly
theoretical or look at particular cases without a
comprehensive discussion of the relevant theo-
retical underpinnings. Another strength of the
book is that while the main focus is on al-Qaeda-
related plots in the UK, Denmark and Germany,
many of the contributors to the volume also dis-
cuss other terrorist movements. However, there
are also some areas in which the book could
have been improved. First, it is not clear why the
focus is on the UK, Denmark and Germany.
There are other European countries which have
been a main target of al-Qaeda-related groups
and individuals, such as France. The analysis
would have gained by systematically including
these in the analysis. Second, one cannot help
but notice that all contributors but one are white
men based at Western institution. Indeed, gen-
der is completely missing from the analysis,
despite the increasing role of female members in
the al-Qaeda movement.
Jennifer Philippa Eggert
(University of Warwick)
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917748485
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