Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support of the Minerva Research Initiative, Department of Defense grants “Documenting the Virtual Caliphate” N00014-16-1-3174 and “Weaponized Conspiracies: Mapping the Social Ecology of Misinformation, Radicalization and Violence” N00014-21-1-2339, and the Minerva program officers and staff of the Office of Naval Research (ONR): Erin Fitzgerald-Rey, Rebecca Goolsby, Harold Hawkins, Toni Haynes, David Montgomery, and many others. While I’m indebted to the Department of Defense for their fourteen years of support, any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed in this book are mine alone and do not reflect the views of the ONR, the Department of the Navy, or the Department of Defense. I thank my literary agent, Martha Kaplan, who weathered the pandemic’s unfortunate impact on my previous publisher. I’m so grateful to Jim Lance, Bethany Wasik, and Mahinder Kingra, who swooped in to save this book, Mary Kate Murphy, and Cornell University Press for welcoming me back. I also thank Clare Jones and the CUP publication team.
I’m grateful for Saturday Sam and Stacey Harrell in the office of sponsored programs at Georgia State University for their help with grant budgets and for ensuring I had the time to write—despite my original course load being doubled (without warning in 2017) by university admins seeking more grant-funded course buyouts. My gratitude also goes to the ONR, which funded those buyouts with back-to-back Minerva awards.
I appreciate the many experts working on ISIS and other militant groups who offered me ideas, data, and raw materials, including Fatima Akilu, Laith Alhouri, Hajja Hamsatu Allamin, Emma Cardeli, Tanya Domi, Heidi Ellis, Raphael Gluck, Hassan Hassan, Rula Jebreal, Jenny Levy, Azadeh Moaveni, Farah Pandith, Maji Peterx, Alexandra Phelan, Mara Revkin, Ali Soufan, Jessica Stern, Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, Gina Vale, Craig Whiteside, and Nancy and Maya Yamout—all of whom generously shared their own research and insights over the years. Most of all I am grateful to Nelly Lahoud, who found many errors in the early drafts of the chapter on women in al Qaeda and afforded me the opportunity to fix my mistakes; Craig Whiteside, who is a walking encyclopedia on all things al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in Iraq; Hamsatu Allamin and Fatima Akilu, who shared their original experiences of treating the women of Boko Haram; and Edit Schlaffer from Women Without Borders who was supportive of this book.
A note on sources and methodology. All research projects, whether they involve human subjects or not, are required to have an institutional review board approve the research. This project’s approval number is: H21396 reference number 366603. Because of the doubly protected status of prisoners, and the limits placed on interviewing active members of terrorist groups by federal funding, the book leveraged documentaries, podcasts, and interviews with journalists in addition to my own access as an expert witness and consultant. During my research, I deduced that many of the interviews with jihadi women were duplicative and that first-person accounts were not always reliable as the stories changed over time.
I have been fortunate to present early drafts of this book at several venues—both academic and nonacademic—where I received indispensable feedback to improve it, for example, at the 2019 Doha Forum. I thank Ambassador Melanne Verveer of Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security for the invitation to discuss the major findings of my research.
As always, I’m grateful to my comrades in arms, who provide me with a wonderful support system: Victor Asal, Rose Bellandi, Shuki Cohen, Jared Dmello, Devin Hayes Ellis, Edna Erez, Henriette Esholdt, Faten Ghosn, Mila Johns, Jenna Jordan, Michael Kenney, George Kesidis, Jason Klocek, Tara Lemieux, Michael Lipson, Susanne Martin, John Mearsheimer, Stefan Meingast, Bessma Momani, Sophia Moskalenko, Helen Murphy, Malcolm Nance, Marco Nilsson, Brian Phillips, Daniela Pisoiu, Rejae Sahouri, Dan Tavana, Maurits Van Der Veen, Amy and Rob Wagner, Craig Whiteside, and the Uzonyi family for their friendship and encouragement. Most of all to Katherine, Victor, and Sophia, thank you for keeping me grounded and (mostly) sane.
Michel (Mitch) Martin, my brother-in-law, passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2020, while I was completing the first draft of this book. He was a great source of courage and inspiration, and I’m grateful for the last Christmas we spent together as a family with Marlène Archer and Liam and Samara Bloom.
Finally, to Marly, you are the best mother, the best friend, the best sister, and the best superhero anyone could imagine. I dedicate this book to you and to all the women who survive the most horrendous experiences only to emerge stronger, better, and more resilient than before.