By Mathias Delori
Abstract:

Can the notions of “fanaticism” and “imperialism” seriously explain terrorism and the wars waged against it? What if our understanding of these phenomena were to be rethought in the light of what René Girard calls mimetic rivalry, i.e. the idea that belligerents imitate each other to produce, together, the escalation of violence? Drawing on a socio-historical survey of archives and interviews, Delori analyzes how jihadists, politicians, journalists and pseudo-experts in “radicalization” have undermined strategic thinking over the past thirty years to produce a world where terrorist attacks have responded to bombings, and bombings to terrorist attacks.

To be published in:
Paris, Bruxelles: Peter Lang, Forthcoming