Friction How Radicalization Happens to Them and Us

• Explores the ways in which people are radicalized, an issue that is particularly important to the public in the post-9/11 era
• Draws from a wide range of case material from Russia in the late 19th century, the US in the 1970s, and Afghanistan after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s
• Outlines the effects of government action on radicalization
• Offers new perspectives on radicalization occuring on a large scale, not simply at the individual or group level
• Argues provocatively that the same mechanisms are at work in radicalizing terrorists and the radicalization of states targeted by terrorists

This accessible book identifies twelve mechanisms of political radicalization that can move individuals, groups, and the masses to increased sympathy and support for political violence. Terrorism is an extreme form of radicalization, and the book describes pathways to terrorism to demonstrate the twelve mechanisms at work. 

Written by two psychologists who are acknowledged radicalization experts and consultants to the Department of Homeland Security, Friction draws heavily on case histories. The case material is wide-ranging - drawn from Russia in the late 1800s, the US in the 1970s, and the radical Islam encouraged by the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Taken together, the twelve mechanisms show how unexceptional people are moved to exceptional violence in the conflict between states and non-state challengers. Captivating, and with psychological overtones, this timely book covers one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Readership: Anyone interested in politics, security, or terrorism; undergraduates, graduate students, and teaching and research faculty in areas of conflict resolution, cultural psychology, human aggression, intergroup relations, international relations, terrorism, war, peace studies, political psychology, political radicalization, political mobilization, security studies, political activism, or social psychology; and government officials.