The criminological dimension of crime generally does not arouse great enthusiasm from researchers in Arab countries, unlike Anglo-Saxon- or French-speaking countries. Admittedly, Western criminology is more advanced, but it is more interested in common crimes than in mass crimes such as crimes against humanity, genocide, human trafficking or terrorism. However, the rare existing studies reveal the emergence of a criminology of massive human rights violations and expose some particularities of this criminal phenomenon. These include the often transnational nature of the crimes, the geographical, socio-economic and political disparity of criminals, the high number of victims, and more. The relationship between criminal law, criminology and human rights should be examined to determine the complementarity of the law and the empirical criminal sciences in crime prevention.

Entry into terrorist organizations has often been described from an extrinsic perspective, as a biographical rupture. However, the “careers” of activists from illegal Basque far-left and national liberation organizations show continuities, underscored by the players themselves. We used a model developed by Snow and McAdam [2000] to understand the "identity work" that accompanies integration and participation in clandestine groups. Two major forms of identity work characterize entry into the organizations studied: “identity convergence” and “identity amplification”. These results suggest a need to reconsider the heuristic relevance of the concepts of radicalization and tip over into terrorism. They also help clarify the role of both cognitive and affective group identification within the identity redefinition process for the individuals involved.

The relationship between terrorism and criminology illustrates the global feature of crime. Terrorism is presently at the top of the fields of interest of global criminology. However, the issue of victims of terrorism has been neglected in its research agenda. This article seeks to redefine global criminology and victimology by incorporating that issue into their fields of interest. It attempts to answer key questions like: What is the typical model for protecting the victims of terrorism? How could a more operative and effective system be created for that purpose? The European and the United Nations systems are two models that provide international experiences, developments and efforts. Since they generally form a soft law-based system, the author concludes that a protection-oriented system for victims of terrorism will be more operative and effective when it is transformed into one based on hard law.

Since the tragedy of September 11, 2001 (9/11) there have been a growing awareness and recognition of the expanding threat presented by the transmutation and convergence of international organized crime and terrorist groups. There is a semantic debate on whether these organizations are “converging” or “transforming.” Regardless, this worrisome development is complicated and progressively difficult to combat and calls for law enforcement, intelligence and military interventions. While the United States and other countries have been dealing with the post-9/11 world of persistent problems like Iraq, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), Syria, and more, the links between organized crime and terrorism could prolong these challenges and generate further disruptions and menace to global security and development. There are strong operational needs and requirements that bring organized crime and terrorists together for collaboration and even seamless transitions within the same general operation. However, there are substantial hurdles that make a total teamwork between the two groups not so easily achievable. For example, organized crime normally avoids the publicity and the indiscriminate killings often used by terrorists. However, it is clear that the merging of international organized crime and terrorist groups is growing and presents unique challenges and opportunities. This paper examines this ongoing transmutation, convergence and cooperation between transnational organized crime and terrorism, and offers examples and recommendations on how to prevent it and defeat it.

To effectively address/counter/neutralize the areas in which ISIS/ISIL/IS/DAESH has had success in its strategy, operation and tactics, the international community must deal with the following three issues: (A) multifaceted recruitment counter-efforts; (B) looking at women as survivors of ISIS on a continuum from free agent to victim; (C) the need to investigate and monitor the movement of people with concern and respect for human rights and international treaties. The role of different actors is examined in detail. The need for international efforts and coordination is also addressed. Concrete recommendations are provided. The list of members of the International Task Force that worked on this Conclusions and Recommendations is given.

This paper explores the motivations of Western women who traveled to Syria/Iraq to support the Islamic State (IS) or Daesh. It draws on previous studies of the phenomenon, insights from practitioners and informal interviews with an individual with first-hand insights. The different motivations are categorized into three levels: macro, meso and micro. The author rebukes the intractable stereotype of the “jihadi bride” that (inadvertently) suggests that women are driven mainly by personal motivations or the prospect of marriage, and demonstrates that female Western supporters of IS/Daesh are motivated by various factors. These include ideological or religious motivations, the pull of the cause, frustration and anger over the perceived worldwide oppression of Muslims, but also the search for a purpose in life and for a sense of belonging. Women have been affected by group dynamics and experiences in their past (including sexual abuse). Some women were attracted by the prospect of a clean slate, adventure or a (religious) husband. The author underscores that, in order to tackle the phenomenon of women supporting IS/Daesh, it is essential to deepen our understanding of its appeal on women, which requires acknowledging the diversity of women who joined IS/Daesh and recognizing the complexity and multitude of their motivations.

The “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) is the main source of instability, not only in Iraq and Syria, but also throughout the Middle East. The instability poses a danger for the other parts of the world because of the influx of foreign fighters to the region. Extremists have taken advantage of the continuing conflicts in Iraq and Syria, with Syria in particular serving as a magnet for thousands of foreign fighters from more than 90 countries. While most of these ISIS combatants are men, many women have left their countries behind to join the “caliphate” and support its cause. Social media have played a key role in luring women to join ISIS. This study therefore analyzed the ISIS organization’s social media propaganda and grass-roots recruitment activities aimed at women in Turkey. The results of the analysis provide important information about the strategies that ISIS uses to spread its ideology.

For the first time since the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada is in an armed conflict with an insurgency that has actively recruited Canadians and directed them to use or promote violence against Canada. In the result, the Canadian government may ask its soldiers to target and kill fellow Canadians abroad or to assist allies in doing so. This situation raises a host of novel legal issues, including the question of “targeted killing.” This matter arose for the United Kingdom in 2015 when it directed the use of military force against several Britons believed to be plotting a terrorist attack against the United Kingdom from abroad. This incident sparked a report from the British Parliament highlighting legal dilemmas. This article does the same for Canada by focusing on the main legal implications surrounding a targeted killing by the Canadian government of a Canadian citizen abroad. This exercise shows that a Canadian policy of targeted killing would oblige Canada to make choices on several weighty legal matters. First, the article discusses the Canadian public law rules that apply when the Canadian Armed Forces deploy in armed conflicts overseas. It then analyzes international law governing state uses of military force, including the regulation of the use of force (jus ad bellum) and the law of armed conflict (jus in bello). It also examines an alternative body of international law: that governing peacetime uses of lethal force by states. The article concludes by weaving together these areas of law into a single set of legal questions that would necessarily need to be addressed prior to the targeted killing of a Canadian abroad.

Dominant theories fail to explain the use of terror during the Second Palestinian Intifada. Notably, they fail to explain Hamas’s abandonment of suicide attacks by 2005. We classified the universe of fatalities on both sides and examined the conflict’s patterns of lethal violence. Our analysis of fatality ratios and rates of change by fatality category supports a dual-arena theory of terror. Noting a rapid increase of indiscriminate Israeli civilian deaths and a relative evening out within this category in the conflict’s initial phase, we demonstrate that externally Hamas aimed to improve the balance of forces to compel Israel to negotiate on equal terms using the “out-suffering” mechanism. Internally, Hamas used terror to build confrontational capacity by attracting Palestinian factions to a resistance pole and isolating conciliatory elites. When their continued deployment became too costly relative to emerging options, the campaign was swiftly called off. In the end, while based on strategic calculations, Hamas’s use of terror proved to be a failure.

The terrorist attack in Norway on 22 July 2011, carried out by a right-wing extremist, was a shocking event, leaving 77 dead and dozens seriously wounded. It soon gave rise to a range of interpretations and explanations as to the causes and implications of the attack. Engaging with classical anthropological and more recent sociological literature on trust and blame, the article shows that there was no hegemonic narrative or explanation of the attack, and similarly no broad agreement over the steps to be taken in order to reduce the chances of future attacks. Six different attempts to account for the terrorist attack are described, but only two correctly identify demographic change, migration and the rise of xenophobic politics as the underlying causes of the terrorist attack. This suggests that the high level of trust characteristic of Norwegian society is likely to be reduced as a result of accelerating change and accompanying social fragmentation.