Volume XX, Issue 2, 2026
This issue opens with Michael H. Becker, Eleanor Greenbaum, Louis M. Wasser, Steve Sin, and Austin Doctor’s examination of why violent non-state actors adopt commercial geospatial technologies and how these tools shape both attack patterns and the broader threat landscape. Rik Peels then argues that terrorism and violent extremism are best understood through INUS conditions, emphasising that involvement in terrorism arises from context-specific combinations of factors rather than any single cause. C. Christine Fair and Parina Patel reassess the relationship between Pakistan’s religious seminaries (madaaris) and Islamist violence, finding that violence is more strongly associated with wealthier and densely populated areas, thereby challenging common assumptions about the role of madaaris. Finally, Danijela Lucić, Mirko Bilandžić, and Josip Pandžić analyse 470 definitions of terrorism and conclude that, despite continued debate, a stable core definition persists and is now supported by extensive empirical evidence.
In the Research Notes section, Cécile Rousseau, Cindy Ngov, and Sébastian Brouillette-Alarie examine referral pathways to a Canadian clinical programme addressing violent extremism (VE) and violent nihilism (VN). While clients share similar diagnoses and grievances, referral patterns differ significantly: VN cases are more often referred by health services, whereas religiously motivated VE cases are more frequently referred by security agencies. The authors emphasise the value of a clinically oriented, multi-agency response. Susan Szmania explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in monitoring and evaluating programmes aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). Comparing a public programme evaluation with a framework generated by Microsoft Copilot, she identifies both the potential benefits and limitations of AI-assisted evaluation.
The Resources section features Judith Tinnes’s bibliography on the legitimisation and delegitimisation of terrorism. The issue concludes with reviews of Inga K. Trauthig’s Ruining Revolution by Idriss Mounir Lallali and Jason Burke’s The Revolutionists by Michael Boyle.
