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  • Published: 1 May 2017
  • ISBN: 9780804139564
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 424
  • RRP: $40.00

United States of Jihad

Who Are America's Homegrown Terrorists, and How Do We Stop Them?



Since 9/11, some 300 Americans--born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey, and elsewhere--have been indicted or convicted of terrorism charges. What motivates them, how are they trained, and what do we sacrifice in our aggressive efforts to track them? Paced like a detective story, United States of Jihad "weaves together exhaustive research" to tell the "mesmerizing stories" (Anne-Marie Slaughter) of the key actors on the American front. Peter Bergen also offers an inside look at the sometimes controversial tactics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists--from infiltrating mosques to conducting mass surveillance--and at the bias experienced by innocent observant Muslims at the hands of law enforcement, as he builds a newly incisive analysis of U.S. counterterrorism policy. "Read it," says Thomas E. Ricks, "and come away with a new understanding of America and of terrorism."

A riveting, panoramic look at “homegrown” Islamist terrorism from 9/11 to the present
 
Since 9/11, more than three hundred Americans—born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey, and elsewhere—have been indicted or convicted of terrorism charges. Some have taken the fight abroad: an American was among those who planned the attacks in Mumbai, and more than eighty U.S. citizens have been charged with ISIS-related crimes. Others have acted on American soil, as with the attacks at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, and in San Bernardino. What motivates them, how are they trained, and what do we sacrifice in our efforts to track them?
 
Paced like a detective story, United States of Jihad tells the entwined stories of the key actors on the American front. Among the perpetrators are Anwar al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born radical cleric who became the first American citizen killed by a CIA drone and who mentored the Charlie Hebdo shooters; Samir Khan, whose Inspire webzine has rallied terrorists around the world, including the Tsarnaev brothers; and Omar Hammami, an Alabama native and hip hop fan who became a fixture in al Shabaab’s propaganda videos until fatally displeasing his superiors.
 
Drawing on his extensive network of intelligence contacts, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI to the NYPD, Peter Bergen also offers an inside look at the controversial tactics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists—from infiltrating mosques to massive surveillance; at the bias experienced by innocent observant Muslims at the hands of law enforcement; at the critics and defenders of U.S. policies on terrorism; and at how social media has revolutionized terrorism.
 
Lucid and rigorously researched, United States of Jihad is an essential new analysis of the Americans who have embraced militant Islam both here and abroad.

Washington Post, Notable Non-Fiction Books in 2016

  • Published: 1 May 2017
  • ISBN: 9780804139564
  • Imprint: Crown
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 424
  • RRP: $40.00

About the author

Peter Bergen

PETER BERGEN is a National Security Analyst for CNN and the author of three previous books about al Qaeda and the US-led war on terrorism, including Holy War, Inc., a New York Times bestseller that has been translated into eighteen languages. Bergen is also the director of the national security studies program at the New America Foundation and a research fellow at NYU's Center on Law and Security. He has reported on al Qaeda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, counterterrorism, and the Middle East for a wide range of newspapers and magazines.

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Praise for United States of Jihad

Praise for United States of Jihad:

  • "With his latest book, Peter Bergen shows once again that he has become the premier chronicler of jihadism in the twenty-first century." --Thomas E. Ricks, author of The Generals and Fiasco
  • "There are a number of fine scholars of jihad, but no one matches Peter Bergen in clarity and wisdom, qualities abundantly on display in this valuable book." --Lawrence Wright, author of The Looming Tower and Going Clear