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Understanding Terror Networks, by Marc Sageman (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). 232 pp. $29.95.
Reviewed by Mara E. Karlin, an M.A. candidate at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies focusing on Middle East strategic issues and international economics.
The Terrorist Rolodex: How Islamists Join Terrorist Organizations and Coalesce.
When discussing networking, most people focus on the positive gains made from such relationships, for example better opportunities for the individuals involved or progress toward a greater goal. The success of terrorist networks, however, shows how such connections can go awry and can be used to promote radical ideals in a more effective manner. Marc Sageman, a former Foreign Service officer with the State Department, addresses this issue in his new book, Understanding Terror Networks. Sageman was stationed in Islamabad, Pakistan during the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan, a placement that provided him with significant exposure to the mujhedin based in Afghanistan during this nascent period of their worldwide Salafi jihad. He holds a doctorate in political sociology, which he puts to use in this book, and currently works as a forensic psychiatrist.
In Understanding Terror Networks, Sageman explores...