Brynjar Lia:

Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism: Patterns and Predictions
(London: Routledge, 2005/2006).

This new study is devoted to understanding how international terrorism is shaped, how it evolves and what we can expect in the future.  Drawing upon research and methods outside the traditional focus, and by taking both a theoretical approach and a new practical predictive perspective, it delivers a fresh and fascinating contribution to terrorism studies. While predicting terrorism is a highly speculative business, there are ways of identifying certain long-term causes, driving forces and their links with society. Terrorists are usually integral players in local and sometimes global politics. Hence, when the local, regional and international contexts change, so does terrorism.  Thoroughly reviewing the body of literature on the causes of terrorism, this study also combines predictive and futuristic analyses on globalisation, supported by a range of key case studies. It spans from the transformation of international relations, the globalisation of the market economy, demographic factors, ideological shifts and technological changes. The result is a set of key conclusions about the future patterns of terrorism, which are not simply best guesses, but also backed up by solid research. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of terrorism, globalisation, politics and international relations.

 

 

Read excerpts here

 

 

 

"Authoritative and comprehensive"

— Harry W. Richardson, Peter Gordon and James E. II Moore in Global Business and the Terrorist Threat (2009), p.15.

 

"Magisterial"

— Perspectives on Terrorism, III (2) (August 2009), p.36

 

"The future is notoriously difficult to predict, especially when it comes to terrorism which thrives on the unexpected. Brynjar Lia's Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism is probably the best guide available – an impressive tour d'horizon, methodologically sound, well-argued and convincing in its conclusion that, unfortunately, high levels of terrorism are going to be with us for a very long time."
— Professor Alex P. Schmid, UN Terrorism Prevention Branch, Vienna

 

 

"Globalisation has had a profound impact on contemporary terrorist thinking and behaviour. A pre-eminent specialist on the security environment, Brynjar Lia has authored the definitive text on the subject. As terrorist and insurgent groups worldwide harness the forces of globalization, Lia skilfully dissects its enduring impact on security. It must be read by the specialist and the generalist."
— Professor Rohan Gunaratna, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore and US Military Academy, West Point.

 

 

"This book provides an extremely useful analytical toolbox as to how globalisation and broader structural causes produce and drive terrorism across the globe in differing contexts. The new global security environment demands new thinking about terrorism. This book provides that critical roadmap towards understanding terrorism strategically as an asymmetric challenge for future generations."
— Dr Magnus Ranstorp, director of Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews, Scotland

 

 

"Prediction is a hazardous job, particularly when it comes to the future. So goes a popular wisdom told in a jest. Yet, author Brynjar Lia navigates through this intellectual minefield with aplomb and produces a book, which is by far one of the best works on terrorism this reviewer has read in a while. My enthusiasm for this book rests heavily on the clarity of Lia’s arguments that makes this book so attractive." (Read the entire review here).

— Terrorism and Political Violence Journal, book review by D. K. Gupta