Editorial Team
Editorial Board / Editor
Carlos Igualada. Director of RIET. He holds a degree in History, a Master’s degree in International Relations and a PhD in Philosophy and Letters after studying the evolution of jihadism in Southeast Asia based on the links established between Daesh and local and regional terrorist organisations. Since January 2019, he has directed the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies (OIET), after having worked as a researcher at this centre for three years, and his main area of research focuses on the functioning and monitoring of the different jihadist organisations and the relationship established between them. In terms of his scientific output, he has published papers in academic journals, as well as chapters in joint works and is a member of several editorial boards. He is also a regular contributor to Ministry of Defence publications, such as the Revista Ejército, where he has a section on jihadist terrorist organisations, and the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies. He has been a speaker at numerous national and international courses and seminars on terrorism and security. He also teaches at several Spanish universities and writes for various media outlets.
Javier Yagüe. Editor-in-Chief of RIET. He is an intelligence analyst and focuses his activity on strategic consultancy. He is a researcher at the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies (OIET) and specialises in “Analysis of Jihadist Terrorism, Insurgencies and Radical Movements” at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, having focused his line of research on the ideological, methodological and operational aspects of Salafi-Jihadist groups. He has participated as a speaker at conferences related to terrorism and counterterrorism, intelligence, and security.
Comité académico / Academic Committee
Carmen Aguilera holds a PhD from the University of Granada where she teaches in the Department of English and German Philology. She is also a member of the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR) and a researcher for The Bridge project at Georgetown University. Her postdoctoral research has focused on the study of extreme online discourse, with particular interest in the construction of cyber-Islamophobia in social media, the polarisation of discourse in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, the rhetoric of the far right on the Internet, and the semiotics of terrorism. She has presented her work at more than 30 international conferences and has published the results of her research in numerous articles and chapters in international journals and books. In addition, she was the author of the report on Spain in the 2017 and 2018 European Islamophobia Report, co-author of the same in 2016 as well as of “The Creation of National Identity in the online discourse in post-war Sri Lanka” funded by USAID in 2017. She has also published regularly in media outlets such as Fair Observer, Open Democracy, Rantt Media and The Conversation.
Sergio Altuna is a research associate of the Programme on Violent Radicalisation and Global Terrorism at the Elcano Royal Institute. In addition to his work as a researcher, he has accumulated experience as a lecturer in different universities, both in the field of linguistics (University of Jendouba and University of the Ionian Islands) and in the field of social and legal sciences (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and Universidad Pablo de Olavide). His fields of specialisation revolve around the evolution of the different Islamist currents in North Africa and the Sahel, the analysis of Islamist rhetoric and narrative, and the development of counter-narrative tools and alternative narratives.
Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio is full professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid. He was previously a professor at the University of Alicante between 1999 and 2019, where he directed the Inter-University Institute for Social Development and Peace (IUDESP). Between 2015 and 2018, he was Middle East and Maghreb coordinator at Fundación Alternativas, one of the most important think-tanks in Spain.
Rubén Arcos is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, program co-chair of the Intelligence Studies Section (ISS) of the International Studies Association (ISA), co-founder and co-director of IntelHub, an international network for the study of intelligence developed in collaboration between the American Military University, the University of Leicester and the URJC. He is a member of the pool of information experts of the European Centre of Excellence to Combat Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), researcher (core theme leader) of the EU-HYBNET project – Empowering a Pan-European Network to Counter Hybrid Threats, funded by the H2020 programme (2020-2025), and researcher of the CRESCEnt project – Mind the gap in media coverage and strategic communication in case of security threats, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme. He has been a national member of the NATO Science and Technology Organisation RTG SAS-114 on “Analysis and communication of uncertainty in intelligence to support decision making”. He is a freelance contributor to Jane’s Intelligence Review and an associate editor of the International Journal of Intelligence, Security, and Public Affairs (Routledge). His latest book (co-edited with William J. Lahneman) is The Art of Intelligence: More Simulations, Exercises, and Games (2019).
Carlos Ardila is a professional in military sciences and a professional in security management and socio-political analysis. He is a PhD student in education. Magister in International Relations and Magister Honoris Causa in Strategic Intelligence. Specialist in Political Studies; National Security and Defence; General Staff; Human Resources Management and Military Resources Management. Retired officer (Lieutenant Colonel) of the Colombian National Army, with a diploma in General Staff. In active service he served as Artillery Officer with experience in counterinsurgency operations and as Intelligence Officer with experience in planning, development and analysis of information in intelligence activities at the Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels. Associate research professor, Colciencia peer evaluator, with academic and research experience in the areas of Intelligence, Strategic, International Relations, Political Science, Geopolitics and Security and Defence, at the War College, Javeriana University, University of Applied Sciences, New Granada Military University, Military Cadet School, Naval Cadet School, Army Intelligence School, School of Arms and Services, Naval Intelligence School, Postgraduate School of the Air Force, School of Air Intelligence.
Cristina Ariza is an analyst at the Tony Blair Institute of Global Change, where she leads the Institute’s research on the far right. She is the coordinator of the observatory on far-right terrorism and violence for the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies and is also associated with the Centre for the Analysis for the Radical Right in a research capacity. Her specialisation is the study of the far right, as well as jihadist extremism and radicalisation. Her recent reports have analysed the spread of extremist ideas in the UK and the reaction of far-right factions to the covid crisis. Cristina holds an MA from King’s College London’s War Department and has a double degree in International Relations and Translation and Interpreting from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid. Cristina writes for and is regularly interviewed by media outlets such as The Independent, La Vanguardia, Radio Televisión Española, Cadena Ser and Open Democracy.
Miguel Ángel Ballesteros is the Director of the Department of National Security in the Cabinet of the President of the Government. From May 2009 to June 2018 he has been Director of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies of Spain, part of the Centre for Higher National Defence Studies (CESEDEN), Artillery Brigadier General. He has been an associate professor in the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid for the last three years and for 17 years professor at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (Madrid Campus). He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Madrid Campus) with Extraordinary Prize 2015. He holds a diploma in General Staff. He holds a diploma in Operational Research from the University of Valencia. He has completed specialisation courses in strategic studies at the University of Distance Education in Spain, at the NATO School in Germany and at the NATO College (NADEFCOL) in Rome. He is the author of two books: “En busca de una Estrategia de Seguridad Nacional” (En busca de una Estrategia de Seguridad Nacional) (Publicaciones Defensa, Madrid, 2016) and “Yihadismo” (Editorial la Huerta Grande, Madrid 2016). He is also co-author of 33 collective books or monographs, and has published numerous articles in specialised journals and newspapers such as El País, ABC and La Razón.
Tamir Bar-On is professor and researcher at Tec de Monterrey, Mexico, and he received his Ph.D. in political science from McGill University. He has taught courses about terrorism at Yale University, the Royal Military College of Canada, and Tec de Monterrey. Bar-On is also an expert on the radical right and has written seven books, including most recently Fighting The Last War: An Essay On Confusion, Partisanship, and Alarmism in the Literature on the Radical Right (Jeffrey M. Bale and Tamir Bar-On) (Forthcoming, Rowman and Littlefield, 2022), The Right and Radical Right in the Americas (Tamir Bar-On and Bàrbara Molas) (Forthcoming, Rowman and Littlefield, 2021), and Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic by the Radical Right: Scapegoating, Conspiracy Theories, and New Narratives (Tamir Bar-On and Bàrbara Molas, York University) (edited) (ibidem-Verlag, distributed by Columbia University Press, 2021). He is also the author of Where Have All The Fascists Gone? (Ashgate, 2007; Second edition, Routledge, 2019) and Rethinking the French New Right: Alternatives to modernity (Routledge, 2013; paberback, 2016).
José María Blanco is Manager of the Intelligence and Foresight Office at Prosegur. For 10 years he was Director of the Analysis and Prospective Centre of the Guardia Civil. He has a degree in Law and Business Studies and a Masters in Intelligence Analysis, Human Resources Management and Occupational Risk Prevention. He is Co-director of the Intelligence and Strategic Studies Area of the Institute of Forensic and Security Sciences of the Autonomous University of Madrid, and co-director of the Expert Degree in Intelligence Analysis. Lecturer at Comillas, in the double degree in Criminology and Psychology, and in Criminology and Social Work. Researcher in projects funded by the European Commission (FP7 and H2020) in areas such as terrorism, radicalisation and organised crime. He is the author of books, chapters and numerous publications on security and intelligence.
Alessandro Boncio is senior analyst at the European Foundation for Democracy and a member of the EENeT (European Expert Network on Terrorism Issues). He holds a BA in Science of Investigation from L’Aquila University and is currently an MA student in Science of Languages, History and Cultures in the Mediterranean and Islamic countries at Orientale University of Naples. Guest contributor for several think thank and academic journals, attended specialization courses related to counter terrorism with the Italian Army and various foreign universities. He was previously a lecturer for the Carabinieri Advanced Institute of Investigative Techniques, on jihadi terrorism, the foreign fighters phenomenon and radicalization pathways. He holds a 1st level CBRN defense trainer specialization, regarding CBRN incidents first approach and management. He was deployed in several international mission in the Middle East, the Balkans and Africa as intelligence asset and counter-terrorism consultant.
Moussa Bourekba is a researcher at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Barcelona). He is also Associate Professor at the Faculty of Blanquerna (Ramon Llull University) and Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. Before joining CIDOB, he was a junior researcher at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed, Barcelona) and a consultant for the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI, Paris). His research work focuses on: processes of radicalisation, policies for the prevention of violent extremism, and Islam and Islamophobia in Europe.
Alberto Bueno is a lecturer in Political Science at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, and secretary and lecturer on the Master’s degree in Strategic Studies and International Security at the University of Granada. He is a doctoral candidate in the Social Sciences programme at the University of Granada, whose main line of research focuses on strategic studies, defence policy and civil-military relations. He is editor of the knowledge transfer journal Global Strategy and academic secretary of Política y Gobernanza. Revista de Investigaciones y Análisis Político. He has been a visiting researcher at the Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos, the Institut für Politikwissenschaft at the University of Leipzig and the Instituto Português de Relações Internacionais at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He has been a guest lecturer at NATO Special Operations Headquarters and at several Spanish universities, as well as a guest lecturer at the universities of Leipzig, Bamberg and Castilla-La Mancha. He has participated in the prospective research programme “Trabajos de Futuro” led by the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies, as well as in several research projects of the Spanish Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Pilar Cebrián is a freelance journalist with experience in armed conflicts and Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. In 2014 she received the Young Journalist of the Year Award from the Madrid Press Association. In 2015 he settled in Istanbul, Turkey, where he collaborates for several media outlets such as Atresmedia, El Confidencial and France24. He has published a book on the 2015 migration crisis in Europe, (La Huerta Grande, 2017). His coverage of the Syrian civil war has led him to investigate jihadist terrorism. In 2018 he won a BBVA Leonardo Fellowship to write a book on European jihadists who joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Since then, he has interviewed dozens of prisoners held in Iraqi jails and Syrian prisons. His line of research focuses on the impact of the Middle East wars on European security: the impact of returnees from the conflict, jihadist radicalisation in Europe and pockets of detention abroad. He contributes to think tanks such as Beyond the Horizon and publications such as World Politics Review and Foreign Policy.
Álvaro Cremades holds a degree in Political Science and Administration from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; a Master’s degree in Intelligence Analysis from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; and is a student in the PhD programme in Political Science and Administration and International Relations at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Collaborating Professor at the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija; visiting professor at the Escuela Superior de Guerra “General Rafael Reyes Prieto” (Colombia); visiting professor at various Spanish and Latin American academic institutions (Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala). Researcher in international security and strategic intelligence, with more than a dozen works published in different collective works and specialised journals.
Luis de la Corte holds a PhD in Psychology, is a full professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Methodology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Forensic and Security Sciences at the same university. He has carried out research and teaching stays in several Spanish and foreign universities, such as the Universidad Centraomericana “José Simeón Cañas” of El Salvador, Universidad Autónoma de México, Universidad Católica de Uruguay, London School of Economics and Political Sciences and Centre for Studies of Terrorism and Political Violence of the University of St. Andrews (UK). As a lecturer, he has taught and continues to teach courses, seminars and conferences on the following subjects: Terrorism and Political Violence, Negotiation and Persuasion, and Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, among others. He has collaborated with various public and private institutions, including the Centro Superior de Estudios de la Defensa Nacional (where he teaches the General Staff Course), the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies, the Army Training and Doctrine Command, the Training and Development Division of the National Police Centre, the Judicial Police Technical Unit of the Guardia Civil, the Diplomatic School, the Elcano Royal Institute for Strategic and International Studies, the Chair of Intelligence Services and Democratic Systems at the Rey Juan Carlos University and the Queen Sofia Centre for the Study of Violence.
Gustavo Díaz holds a PhD in Political Science from the Complutense University of Madrid and an MA in Intelligence and Security Studies from the University of Salford, Manchester. He currently works as an intelligence manager at the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX). Since 2005 he has been collaborating with the research group of the Complutense University of Madrid, UNISCI, and since 2012 he has held the position of associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the Complutense University of Madrid. On the same date, he joined the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. He combines his activities with various contributions to courses, seminars and master’s degrees at different Spanish universities. He is a specialist in intelligence studies and the role of intelligence services in the 21st century. He is the author of two of the main books on intelligence written in Spain. “Theoretical Intelligence” and “Intelligence Services in the 21st Century”. He has also made several contributions to publications such as El Real Instituto Elcano, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, RIEAS, UNISCI, now defunct Revista de Inteligencia, Seguridad y Prospectiva, and CIBOB.
Jesús Díez is a Colonel in the Spanish Army (Artillery) and Staff Officer in Spain (2005) and Chile (2009). He is currently an advisor to the Department of National Security in the Presidency. His professional career has been marked by his various postings in military artillery units, in the Army’s Department of Communication, in the Spanish Defence Staff and in military training academies: Army War College (2005-2009) and at the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies/Superior Centre for National Defence Studies (2012-2015 and 2018 -2019). As for his international postings, he has also been Military Advisor at the Spanish Military Representation to the European Union (2015-2108). In addition, since 2003, he has been conducting studies and analyses on matters relating to international Security and Defence, especially focused on Africa; and he has taught at various Universities and university postgraduate courses, as well as lectured at many national and international forums. In the civilian sphere, he holds a degree in Information Sciences from the University of La Laguna (2001) and is a University Expert in Communication and Conflicts from the Complutense University of Madrid (2002). He has taken several university courses, among others, in International Law (University of Las Palmas, 2000) or Workshop in Global Leadership at Harvard University (2018).
Gaizka Fernández holds a degree in History from the University of Deusto and a PhD in Contemporary History from the University of the Basque Country. He currently works as head of the Archive, Research and Documentation area of the Centre for the Memory of the Victims of Terrorism. He is the author of the books Héroes, heterodoxos y traidores. Historia de Euskadiko Ezkerra (1974-1994) (2013), La calle es nuestra: la Transición en el País Vasco (1973-1982) (2015) and La voluntad del gudari. Génesis y metástasis de la violencia de ETA (2016). He is co-author, with Raúl López Romo, of Sangre, votos, manifestaciones. ETA y el nacionalismo vasco radical (1958-2011) (2012) and, together with Sara Hidalgo, of La unión de la izquierda vasca. La convergencia PSE-EE (2018). Together with Florencio Domínguez, he coordinated Pardines. Cuando ETA empezó a matar (2018), and, together with María Jiménez, 1980. El terrorismo contra la Transición (2020). He is a regular contributor to El Correo and El Diario Vasco, as well as to academic publications. She is a member of the editorial board of the magazine Grand Place.
Carola García-Calvo is Senior Researcher in the Programme on Violent Radicalisation and Global Terrorism at the Elcano Royal Institute and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Law I and Political Science at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC). Since 1 September 2017 she is scientific coordinator of the European H2020 project “Developing a comprehensive approach to violent radicalization in the EU from early understanding to improving protection”, MINDb4ACT, on the prevention of violent radicalization leading to terrorism in Europe. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the URJC (Extraordinary Doctorate Award), an Official Master’s Degree in Democracy and Government from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), a Master’s Degree in Globalisation from the Instituto Universitario de Investigación Ortega y Gasset and a specialist in International Relations from the University of Manchester. She has been an associate lecturer at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) and the UNED and coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Terrorism Studies at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). Extraordinary Doctorate Award (2019), member of the Scientific Committee of the CIFAL Centre (UNITAR Network) Malaga (2018); Visiting Professor at the Georgetown University Center for Security Studies (Washington D. C, 2018); member of the Advisory Board of the Europol Counterterrorism Center (2017); Medal for Police Merit with White Distinction (2017); recipient of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) awarded by the U.S. Department of State (2016).
Alexandra Gil has a degree in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid. She trained at Agencia EFE and worked in French media before working as editor-in-chief at Meltygroup and deputy editor at the French magazine Afrique Magazine. She specialised in jihadist terrorism and violent radicalisation and was a correspondent for Spanish media in Paris. She covered the wave of attacks that hit France, Belgium and Spain between 2015 and 2017, as well as the impact of this phenomenon on European societies between 2018 and 2019. She is the author of the book En el vientre de la jihad: El testimonio de las madres de jihadistas (Debate), translated into French Mon fils, ce djihadiste (CityEditions). Between 2018 and 2019, she was an advisor on the prevention of violent radicalisation in a project within the framework of the European Parliament. Since 2017 and currently, she continues her research in this area, with academic contributions through publications and conferences in various forums, focusing her case study on French prisons as foci of contagion, the judicialisation of returnees in Europe and radicalisation prevention programmes promoted in the prison environment. She is currently advisor and press officer to the Spanish Secretary of State for Migration.
Tore Hamming is a non-resident fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, King’s College and a former fellow at the Middle East Institute, CERI-Sciences Po, and the Danish Institute for International Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in political and social sciences from the European University Institute in Florence. Hamming specializes in Sunni Jihadism and particularly the internal dynamics between and within Sunni Jihadi groups. Hamming’s academic research has been published in Perspectives on Terrorism and Terrorism and Political Violence, while his analysis has appeared in international media including Le Monde, Al Jazeera, World Policy Review, War on the Rocks and the Guardian. Hamming is also a regular contributor to the blog Jihadica. Hamming has conducted field work in Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria and Somalia among other places.
Thomas Hegghammer is senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) in Oslo. Trained in Middle East Studies at Oxford University and Sciences-Po in Paris, he has held fellowships at Harvard, Princeton, New York, and Stanford Universities, and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He has published widely in academic journals, including the American Political Science Review and International Security. He has written several books, most recently The Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad (Cambridge, forthcoming). He has testified in the U.S. Congress and British Parliament, written op-eds for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and appeared on major international news networks.
María Jiménez is a journalist and holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Navarra, where she teaches on the Journalism Degree. She has a master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and an expert diploma in the analysis of jihadist terrorism, insurgency and radical movements from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide. She has been director of communications for the Collective of Victims of Terrorism (COVITE), head of the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies (OIET) and co-author of Relatos de plomo. Historia del terrorismo en Navarra, by Pardines. Cuando ETA empezó a matar (2018) and Heridos y olvidados. The survivors of terrorism in Spain (2019). She has also written Ana María Vidal-Abarca: courage in the face of terror (2020). She received the Antonio Beristain Award for victimological research in 2016 and the Ernestina de Champourcin Award for women’s studies in 2020. She has curated exhibitions related to the victims of terrorism. She is an expert member of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) of the European Commission.
Raúl López Romo is in charge of education and exhibitions at the Centre for the Memory of the Victims of Terrorism. He holds a PhD in Contemporary History from the University of the Basque Country. His thesis, published under the title “Años en claroscuro” (2011), dealt with conflict in the Basque Country during the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to democracy. Specialising in the analysis of collective action and terrorism, he has been a lecturer at the UPV and a researcher at the Valentín de Foronda Institute of Social History. He participates in the research projects “Political violence, memory and territorial identity”, directed by Antonio Rivera, and “Social and political history of the contemporary Basque Country”, directed by Luis Castells. He has carried out research stays at the University of Belfast, the University of Newcastle and the European University Institute in Florence. He is the author of four books and co-author of two others. Among them is the “Foronda Report: the effects of terrorism on Basque society” (2015). He also wrote with Gaizka Fernández “Sangre, votos, manifestaciones: ETA and radical Basque nationalism” (2012). He has edited the collective volume “Memories of terrorism in Spain” (2018). She coordinates the Online Archive on Terrorist Violence in the Basque Country.
María Lozano holds a degree in Law and several postgraduate and master’s degrees in International Law and International Relations, Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility. Her area of work focuses on strengthening the role of victims of terrorism and other credible voices in preventing and countering extremist violence. She was the founder and director of the European Network of Associations of Victims of Terrorism (NAVT), within the European Commission, from its conception in 2006 until 2013. The Network brought together 45 organisations from all parts of the European Union. Since 2015, she has worked as an advisor, speaker, expert consultant and trainer for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Terrorism Prevention, Prevention of Extremist Violence and fostering International Cooperation in South Asia and Southeast Asia. She has focused on CSO’s, CBO’s and community engagement with EVP, including the development of the “Handbook of Good Practices for Supporting Victims of Terrorism during Criminal Justice Proceedings” and “Foreign Terrorist Fighters: A Handbook for Judicial Training Institutions in South Asia and Southeast Asia”. She is also an expert advisor in several national and international EVP projects related to education, interfaith dialogue, hate speech and youth empowerment.
Francesco Marone is Adjunct Professor at University of Aosta Valley (Italy), Fellow Program on Extremism in George Washington University (USA), Associate Fellow in International Center for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (The Netherlands) and Associate Research Fellow, ISPI – Italian Institute for International Political Studies (Italy). Some of her latest scientific articles are: A Farewell to Firearms? The logic of weapon selection in terrorism: the case of jihadist attacks in Europe, Global Change, Peace & Security (2021), Dilemmas of the terrorist underworld: The management of internal secrecy in terrorist organisations, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression (2021), Hate in the time of coronavirus: Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on violent extremism and terrorism in the West, Security Journal (2021) and “We Will Conquer Your Rome”: Italy and the Vatican in the Islamic State’s propaganda, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (2020).
Manuel Moyano is Professor of Psychology at the University of Córdoba. PhD in Psychology (2011). Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the University of Granada (2011). Leocadio Martín Mingorance Research Award in Social and Legal Sciences (2015). He has held various technical and advisory positions in the Ministry of Education of the Andalusian Regional Government on issues related to the improvement of coexistence, prevention of violence and the risk of social exclusion in young people. He has been and is a researcher and/or analyst in projects funded, among others, by the European Union, UN-UNITAR, START Center, Hedayah or different Ministries of the Spanish Government. He is currently principal investigator of the SPEY project (“Sport for Prevention of Extremism in Youth”), led by the UFEC and funded by the European Commission. He has spent time at research centres such as the University of Maryland (United States) and New York University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). He has published some thirty scientific articles and technical reports, as well as several books and book chapters on violent radicalisation, terrorism and other psychosocial risks. He is a member of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), the European Commission, and the European Union.
Diego Muro is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) at the University of St Andrews. Prior to joining CSTPV he was a junior lecturer at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI-UPF) and a senior lecturer at King’s College London. He has also been Senior Fellow at Oxford University and Max Weber post-doctoral researcher at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. His research focuses on security studies, terrorism, nationalism and ethnic conflict. His most recent books are the Oxford Handbook of Spanish Politics (OUP, 2020) and Strategies of Secession and Counter-Secession (ECPR, 2020). He has also published in Afers Internacionals, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Nations and Nationalism, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Politics, Revista Española de Ciencia Política, South European Society & Politics, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism and West European Politics.
Petter Nesser is a senior researcher with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and associate professor with BI Norwegian Business School. He is a political scientist, historian and Arabist, educated at the University of Oslo (UiO) and The American University in Cairo (AUC). Nesser has conducted extensive research on jihadism while focusing on why and how terrorist cells emerge, and how they operate. His research currently focuses on methodologies of data collection in terrorism research, while working on a book about entrepreneurs of transnational terror networks. Nesser acts as advisor to Norwegian authorities on issues related to counterterrorism and the prevention of extremism. He has communicated research findings in Norway and internationally, through academic conferences and teaching, speeches before public sector and NGOs, and via media. He is author of Islamist Terrorism in Europe (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2015, 2018).
Matteo Re holds a PhD in Contemporary History and is a lecturer at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid where he teaches undergraduate and Master’s degree courses in Analysis and Prevention of Terrorism. He has participated as a researcher in several R&D projects of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (European terrorism in the years of lead: a comparative analysis, Spain’s foreign policy: from the Transition to democratic consolidation (1986-2001), International dimension of the Spanish Transition (1973-1986): protagonists and historical memory) and in the Minerva project Who does not become a terrorist, and why? Towards an empirically grounded understanding of individual motivation in terrorism. His main line of research focuses on the study of political violence in Italy. Some of his publications are: “Dejar de informar: la prensa italiana y el debate sobre el “apagón informativo” tras los ataques de las Brigadas Rojas”, in Historia Contemporánea (UPV); “The Red Brigades’ Communiqués: An Analysis of the Terrorist Group’s Propaganda”, in Terrorism and Political Violence; No quieren cambiar. Códigos, lenguaje e historia de la mafia. Dykinson; Guerrilleros, terroristas y revolución (1959-1988), Thompson Reuters Aranzadi (with José Manuel Azcona); Pertenencia a banda armada. Ataque al corazón del Estado y terrorismo en Italia. Biblioteca Nueva.
Jerónimo Ríos holds a PhD in Political Science (extraordinary doctorate award) from the Complutense University of Madrid – under the guidance of Heriberto Cairo and María Lois. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher of the programme of excellence “Atracción del Talento Investigador 2018” co-funded by the Community of Madrid and principal investigator of the project PR65/19-22461 under the title “Discurso y expectativa sobre la paz territorial en Colombia” (Discourse and expectation on territorial peace in Colombia). He has taught at various universities in Colombia, Spain and Canada and has carried out short research stays in universities such as Granada, Valencia and San Martín de Porres (Peru), as well as being an advisor to the Organisation of Ibero-American States in Colombia during the process of dialogue and implementation of the Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP. His main lines of research are political violence and insurgencies in Latin America – with special attention to the cases of Colombia and Peru – and he also researches critical geopolitics and the discourses surrounding violence and security on the Latin American continent. He has a total of 62 scientific articles and 36 collaborations in books (32 works indexed in Scopus and 9 in JCR), publishing, among others, in journals such as Geopolitics, Peace Review, Rationality and Society, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism or Latin American Perspectives.
Agata Serranò is a Ramón y Cajal researcher in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She holds a degree in Political Science from the Università della Calabria (Italy), a Master’s Degree in Analysis and Prevention of Terrorism from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) and a PhD with international mention in Public Law from the Universidad de Jaén (Extraordinary Doctorate Award). She has taught more than 1000 hours of teaching in public and private universities, obtaining accreditation by ANECA (Spanish National Agency for Quality Assurancee). She is the author of some twenty publications such as monographs, book chapters and articles in indexed journals. Her research interests focus on the analysis of terrorism, on reparation policies for victims of terrorism and human rights violations in Europe and Latin America, and on the development of public policies for a greater effectiveness of the rights of vulnerable groups in general.
Louie Dean Valencia holds a PhD in Contemporary European History and is a member of the Department of History at Texas State University. He has taught at Harvard University and collaborates with the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right. He has served on the Scientific and Editorial Board of the journal EuropeNow, a publication of the Council for European Studies. His publications and research focus on issues related to youth groups, the extreme right, fascism and anti-fascism in Spain and across Europe. He has published Antiauthoritarian Youth Culture in Francoist Spain: Clashing with Fascism and Far-Right Revisionism and the End of History: Alt/Histories.
Aaron Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Visiting Research Scholar at Brandeis University, and an Associate Fellow of the Global Network on Extremism and Terrorism for the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. He is author of the book Your Sons Are At Your Service: Tunisia’s Missionaries of Jihad (Columbia University Press). Zelin is also the founder of the widely acclaimed and cited website Jihadology.net and its podcast JihadPod. Zelin’s research focuses on Sunni Arab jihadi groups in North Africa and Syria as well as the trend of foreign fighting, online jihadism, and jihadi governance.