Two international policy analysts scrutinize the increasingly important operative and support roles women play in various terrorist organizations around the world.
Women as Terrorists: Mothers, Recruiters, and Martyrs is the first post-September 11 book to examine women’s multifarious roles in terrorist organizations of all stripes around the world. It covers political, religious, ethno-separatist, and Maoist groups in countries as diverse as Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Africa, the Philippines, and Northern Ireland.
Modeling terrorist organizations as purposive organizations that depend for support, recruitment, and rationale on a culturally defined community of sympathizers, the authors explore why women become involved in terrorist groups, how terrorist leaders turn the societal attributes of women to advantage in designing terrorist campaigns, and how women fight for the right to assume strategic and combat roles in terrorist groups. The authors conclude with a review and projection of the rapidly evolving trends in the use of women in terrorist organizations, paying particular attention to al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups and considering the implications of their findings for counterterrorist strategies.
R. Kim Cragin is an international policy analyst at RAND Corporation. She is coauthor of Dissuading Terror: Strategic Influence and the Struggle Against Terrorism, Terrorism and Development, and Arms Trafficking and Colombia. Cragin and Daly have coauthored terrorism studies commissioned by the U.S. armed services.
Sara A. Daly is an international policy analyst at RAND Corporation. Prior to joining RAND, Daly served as the representative from the CIA's Counterterrorism Center to the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism. She has many years experience as a CIA intelligence analyst specializing in Middle Eastern and South Asian terrorism issues. Cragin and Daly have coauthored terrorism studies commissioned by the U.S. armed services.
Reviews
"Those looking for a basic primer on the subject will find the book an interesting and informative read."—Choice, March 1, 2010
"Cragin and Daly, international policy analysts at RAND Corporation, examine women’s roles as operatives, logisticians, couriers, strategic thinkers, recruiters, and symbols in diverse political, religious, and ethno-separatist terrorist organizations around the world, in countries including Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Africa,
and Northern Ireland. They explore why women become involved in terrorist groups, how terrorist leaders turn the societal attributes of women to advantage in designing terrorist campaigns, and how women fight for the right to assume strategic and combat roles within terrorist groups. The book concludes with a review and projection of trends, paying particular
attention to al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups."—Reference & Research Book News, August 1, 2009
"Cragin and Daly have written an important and insightful book that delves into the oft-misunderstood side of terrorism, the role of women. More so than any existing work in the field, this book’s innovative approach to understanding the varied roles women play shows both the complexity of involvement in terrorism and the pivotal role played by female operatives. The authors show how logisticians can be as important as front line activists and constitute the 'unsung heroines' of a terrorist movement, without whom the group could not properly function. The book provides an excellent analysis of terrorist motivation overall. Cragin and Daly also challenge conventional wisdom that women involved in terrorist movements are defective in some way, showing how women even in patriarchal cultures are both the standard bearers of culture and leaders in their own right. A must read for anyone interested in terrorism and the increasing role played by women."—Mia Bloom
Associate professor Pennsylvania State University
Author of Dying to Kill: the Allure of Suicide Terror
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