Dr. Alex P. Schmid
Dr. Alex P. Schmid is a Research Fellow of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT). Between 1978 and 2018 he was, for various periods of time, working in various capacities at Leiden University. In addition, he was Extraordinary Professor for Conflict Resolution at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and later held a Chair in International Relations at the University of St. Andrews, where he was also Director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV). Prof. em. Alex Schmid has also held various other positions, including, for nearly seven years, Officer-in-Charge of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC in Vienna in the rank of a Senior Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer. He is currently Director of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI), an international network of scholars who seek to enhance human security through collaborative research. His latest book is Terrorists on Trial. A Performative Perspective, co-edited with Beatrice de Graaf (Leiden University Press, 2016). Schmid has nearly 200 publications in ten languages to his name, including an award-winning handbook on terrorism (1984, 1988, 2005, 2011, 2013). Until 2009 he was co-editor of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence. Since then he is Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives on Terrorism, the largest scholarly online journal in the field of Terrorism Studies. He is currently preparing aHandbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness.
Key Publications include:
Schmid, A. P. “Links between Terrorism and Migration: An Exploration”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 7, no. 4 (2016).
Schmid, A. P. and J. Tinnes. “Foreign (Terrorist) Fighters with IS: A European Perspective”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 6, no. 8 (2015).
Schmid, A. P. “Foreign (Terrorist) Fighter Estimates: Conceptual and Data Issues“, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 6, no. 4 (2015).
Schmid, A. P. “Challenging the Narrative of the “Islamic State”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 6, no. 5 (2015).
Schmid, A.P. “Austria’s Reformed Law on Islam – a Model for Europe?“, Perspectives, The Hague: ICCT, 2015.
Schmid, A. P. “Violent and Non-Violent Extremism: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 5, no. 5 (2014).
Schmid, A. P. “Al Qaeda’s “Single Narrative” and Attempts to Develop Counter-Narratives”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 5, no. 1 (2014).
Schmid, A.P. “The End of Radicalisation?“, Perspectives, The Hague: ICCT, 2013.
Schmid, A. P. “Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 4, no. 2 (2013).
Schmid, A. P. “Strengthening the Role of Victims and Incorporating Victims in Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism and Terrorism”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 3, no. 7 (2012).
Hindle, G .F. and A. P. Schmid. After the War on Terror: Regional and Multilateral Perspectives on Counter-Terrorism Strategy. London, RUSI, 2009.
Jongman, A. J. and A. P. Schmid. Political Terrorism. A New Guide to Actors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories and Literature. New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1984, 1988, 2005.
Dr. Schmid is editor and principal author of The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research. London & New York: Routledge, 2011.
Follow Alex Schmid on Twitter @APSCHMID
This policy brief provides an overview of the sociological issues underpinning the issues of far right and Islamist reciprocal or cumulative radicalisation in the Western European context. That is, these groups radicalise each other by mutually reinforcing their hate, intolerance, or indignation towards each other. The nature of reciprocal radicalisation between far right and Islamist […]
Writing in 1992, noted terrorism scholar David Rapoport remarked that nearly 90% of terrorist groups lasted less than one year. Subsequent scholarship on terrorist group longevity has similarly noted the short average lifespan of the vast majority of such groups. Why then—more than three decades after it was originally founded—has al-Qaeda been able to enjoy […]
Introduction In the past months, there has been considerable discussion about whether or not foreign fighters and their families currently detained in camps in Syria should be repatriated. An often-heard justification in Western Europe not to opt for repatriation is the fact that prosecution of the adults will often lead to light sentences and thus […]