Radicalized

While issues surrounding terrorism appear to energise and excite commentary from experts to armchair critics, the lacklustre conclusions produced frequently add little or nothing to moving debates forward. What can masquerade as knowledge may be nothing more than heightened expressions of fear and prejudice. The text under discussion here is not a ground-breaking book full of creative suggestions. Even a perfunctory reading of the early introductory sections garners a stilted, pedestrian and somewhat dated approach. Neumann illustrates that established experts and prominent academics are not always best placed to offer cutting edge critical analysis of events, individuals and movements, and often appear to commentate regardless of having anything new or purposeful to add. In fairness, such criticism could be qualified by considering a suggestion that enough is already known about what leads western people to join Daesh. And therefore, it is not knowledge that is lacking but political expediency to confront and address the resulting issues and implications.