How Terror Evolves: The Emergence and Spread of Terrorist Techniques

This book contextualizes the use of terror as part of wider movements of political contention, demonstrating that terroristic innovation occurs as part of wider historical processes rather than in a vacuum. Drawing on evolutionary theory, this study explains how terroristic groups innovate upon, transform, and abandon techniques of political violence in order to advance their causes against the state. The book further traces the processes through which the use of aircraft as weapons of destruction developed, from the first instances of aircraft hijacking in 1930s Peru, through Palestinian terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s, up to its adoption by al-Qaeda in the 1990s and leading to the 9/11 attack in 2001. This examination provides an essential focus on the techniques through which terror is achieved, offering a novel understanding of the mechanisms of political violence and the implications of counterterrorism on the evolution of terrorism

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction 2. An Evolutionary Approach to Terrorist Innovation 3. The Emergence of Aeroplane Hijacking 4. Hijacking for Transportation or 'Freedom Flights' 5. The Global Impact of Palestinian Hijackings 6. Criminal Innovations 7. Aeroplanes as Weapons of Destruction 8. Conclusion Bibliography Endnotes Index

About the Author :
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, Netherlands. He previously worked as a Senior Researcher in the Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative at Georgia State University, where he worked on Department of Defense funded projects analyzing media products and online discourse produced by extremist groups.

Review :
This book is of great help in explaining how and why innovation in techniques of contention is actually produced. The theoretical framework of the book is central here in enabling us to refine our understanding of how claim-makers select specific techniques from their repertoire of contention and how the evolution of their strategic environment favours the transmission and selection of certain tactics. How Terror Evolves represents an accomplished academic debut from a rising star of the terrorism studies field; a disturbing illumination of how micro-developments can gradually accumulate to generate quite fresh horrors; and an extended meditation on both the structure and agency behind terroristic spectaculars. A storehouse of insights, this is a book to visit regularly. Terrorism does not stand still. Indeed, as How Terror Evolves warns, terrorists have distinct evolutionary advantages when it comes to innovation in tactics and strategy. If you want to understand how and why terrorism evolves and the critical dangers this represents, you need to read Veilleux-Lepage’s compelling analysis and insight. An ambitious, fascinating, original and admirably wide-ranging exploration of the evolution of terrorism. Veilleux-Lepage has produced a very fine book. It is original, innovative, conceptually intriguing, and empirically rich. Not only is this a monograph that looks at how and why terrorist innovation occurs; but it is also a very good overview and history of hijackings – terrorist and not - in general. A fascinating take on how terrorist techniques evolve over time. Veilleux-Lepage’s novel theoretical approach and focused case-study analysis on the terrorist use of airpower cast new light on old debates about just how actors learn and develop. From 1930s Peru, through to the seismic events of 9/11, this book will excite and inform students and scholars alike.