Insurgent Terrorism is an important book that presents detailed cross-national data and analyses of civilian targeting by insurgent groups in civil conflict. Asal, Phillips, and Rethemeyer persuasively argue that the embeddedness of insurgent groups - that is, their relations with the state, the public, and each other - explains variation in civilian victimization. This relational account produces novel and intriguing findings, such as that both alignment
and rivalry with other groups lead to more frequent civilian targeting. Marked by empirical richness, the book advances knowledge on the behavior of insurgent groups, civilian victimization, and civil conflict.
Victor Asal is the Director of the Center for Policy Research and a Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY. His research focuses on violent nonstate actors (VNSAs), pedagogy and political discrimination related to ethnicity, gender and sexuality. He has been involved in research projects funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, The Department of Homeland Security, The
National Science Foundation, and The Office of Naval Research.
Brian J. Phillips is a Reader in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, and an Affiliated Professor at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City. His research focuses on subnational violence including terrorism, civil conflict, organized crime, and dynamics of violent groups. His research has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security, the National Science Foundation, and the Mexican Presidency.
R. Karl Rethemeyer is
the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a faculty member in SBS's School of Public Policy. His research spans terrorism, terrorist organizations, terrorist networks, counterinsurgency/stabilization operations, and the structure and operation of collaborative and policy networks in the public sector.