“Jihad-families” in Huizen: a local test case of national importance

Media headlines turned Huizen, a Dutch town located between Amsterdam, Utrecht and Almere, into an alleged key centre of radical activities. This article describes how Huizen, “Caliphate of ‘t Gooi”, has become a local test case of national importance.

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn • September 05, 2014

Media Vultures Risk Triggering Copycat Deaths

Reporting on celebrity suicides in a sensationalistic way is potentially harmful as it can lead to 'copycat' deaths.

Marieke Liem • September 01, 2014

ISIS’ unlikely weapon of mass destruction

By taking over the largest dam in Iraq, ISIS controls the equivalent to the possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

Pieter van Gelder and Matthias Bakker • August 11, 2014

The Brunswick Wargame

Gaming and simulation have long been used to teach and train military officers to operate strategically in uncertain situations.

Megan Anderson • July 28, 2014

Addressing Terrorism Studies’ ‘Data Problem’: One Case At a Time

There are encouraging signs that the study of terrorism is moving away from its near-exclusive focus on secondary sources and literature-review based methodologies, for example by re-examining well-known cases using newly available first-hand data.

Bart Schuurman • July 21, 2014

Selfie Extremism

Some lone attackers show not only a diffuse mixture of societal and personalized grieves, but more importantly, the same desire to show themselves to the world in what can be labelled performative violence, or 'Selfie Extremism'.

Jelle van Buuren • July 14, 2014

Dutch women on jihad in Syria: why do they go?

Increasingly media report on women who undertake the trip to Syria to join the jihad. What drives these women to give up their comfortable, safe lives to undertake the journey to a country torn by violence?

Daan Weggemans and Seran de Leede • July 07, 2014

'Threat from Jihadism more serious than ever before'

Jihadism in the Netherlands has developed in a relatively short time span into a complex and dynamic movement that poses a more serious threat to democracy and national security than ever before.

Jelle van Buuren and Daan Weggemans • June 30, 2014

Keeping NATO relevant: From Russia with love

Many people have questioned the relevance of NATO in the post-Cold War era. However, the recent crisis in Ukraine seemed to have turned the picture upside down. Can Russia be credited for solving the legitimacy problem of NATO?

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn • June 23, 2014