IACSP Homeland Security Bookshelf

By Dr. Joshua Sinai

This review column capsule reviews ten books on subjects ranging from counterterrorism, homeland security, to military warfare.

Homeland Security

American Foreign Policy Council, World Almanac of Islamism 2021

[Fifth Edition] (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), 950 pages, $135.00 [Hardcover], ISBN: 978-1-5381-5399-4.

The 2021 edition of the Almanac, as explained by the editor, examines the state of the Islamist political religious-political movements worldwide and its impacts on the societies and governments where they operate. The volume’s findings such as the impact of the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, with governments’ responses, such as lockdowns, business closures and social distancing serving to “diminish the mobility of local populations, [making – JS] it more difficult for Islamist actors to organize and mobilize (p. 3). In the long term, however, the editor notes, in vulnerable nations such societal restrictions have “the very real potential to provide Islamist ideology with added appeal, and to give Islamist actors new avenues for recruitment and action” (p. 4). The Almanac is recommended as an authoritative, comprehensive, and detailed reference resource for understanding the current activities of Islamist movements worldwide. Ilan Berman, the volume’s chief editor, is Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC.

Protecting the Presidential Candidates: From JFK to Biden

...