Verbal Notes Newsletter #4.

Jihadi Culture, Thinking the Unthinkable, Hamas’ Strategy, and much more.

Jihadi Culture, Thinking the Unthinkable, Hamas’ Strategy, and much more.

Among the posts published in the Verbal Notes Webpage since last week, I would like to highlight the following:

·       Jihadi Culture, by Thomas Hegghammer (Books & More): This is a truly fascinating and very detailed book on the culture of militant Jihadi groups and individuals. It is very relevant in terms of understanding these organizations, because young people are often attracted to them by their videos, their music, etc, more than by their ideological proposals. It contains descriptions of the discussions on the legitimacy of music, the influence of Sufism, or the rites of martyrdom.

·       The Back Channel, by William Burns (Books & More) An indispensable book for all active and future diplomats. The current CIA Director writes about his wide-ranging career at the Department of State. His memories of his period as US Ambassador to Russia and Jordan are particularly interesting, relevant, and timely.

·       Thinking the Unthinkable, by Nik Gowing, Nik and Chris Langdon (Books & More). This is not just an era of change; it is ‘increasingly a change of era’; in a world where the unthinkable is already happening, we need to up our game and stop using Zombie Orthodoxies that do not reflect reality. This book is passionate and convincing call to challenge Conventional Wisdom.

You can also check links to a selection of particularly interesting articles on the Strategy of Hamas, Big Tech, China and other topics in the Verbal Notes Digest Section.

Happy Reading!