July 26, 2024

Minerva-funded Researchers Explore Gender Dynamics in Extremist Narratives

Mia Bloom's new Minerva-funded publication, "Gender Bender Narratives: Radicalizing Effects of Disinformation That Threatens Gender-Normative Views", explores the role of gender in extremist and terrorist narratives, examining how gender dynamics influence recruitment, propaganda, and the operational strategies of these groups.

Feb. 22, 2023

Minerva-funded Research Integrated into NATO Assessment, "Children in Violent Extremism Organisations in the Middle East and Africa"

Minerva-funded Researcher, Dr. Mia Bloom's (Georgia State University) project on children in violent extremism (2015-2021) was integrated into the NATO Assessment, “Children in Violent Extremism Organisations in the Middle East and Africa”. This assessment helped determine that there is a need to better identify child recruitment patterns, especially in relation to the areas experiencing growing Violent Extremism Organisations (VEO) activity across Africa.

April 28, 2022

Exploring the Social-Ecological Factors that Mobilize Children into Violence

This article applies the social-ecological model to children’s mobilization into two violent groups—Central American gangs and terrorist organizations. While these two groups clearly differ in important ways, there are contextual similarities that frame a child’s involvement in each. For example, both flourish in low-resource settings where governmental structures may have been weakened or disrupted.

March 29, 2022

Mia Bloom's new article "How fairy tales shape fighting spirit: Ukraine’s children hear bedtime stories of underdog heroes, while Russian children hear tales of magical success" published in The Conversation.

"The difference in traditional Russian and Ukrainian folklore might in part explain the difference between the Russian and Ukrainian armies’ performances".

Sept. 4, 2020

Minerva-funded researcher, Mia Bloom on the "Repatriation of ISIS Children"

Minerva-funded researcher, Mia Bloom’s project “Preventing the Next Generation: Mapping the Pathways of Children’s Mobilization into Violent Extremist Organizations” examines how children are recruited, deployed and ascertained whether they were radicalized in a number of different violent extremist organizations (VEOs) in Iraq and Syria, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG Kurdish militia).

July 15, 2020

Best Practices for Supporting the Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Chidlren from Formerly ISIS-Controlled Territories

This brief contributes to this growing body of work by providing a specialized psychosocial approach based in child trauma theory and intervention research that directly addresses the multilevel needs of children returning from formerly ISIS-controlled territories.

June 3, 2020

Mia Bloom's new article "The Forgotten Children of ISIS Fighters"

In Bloom's article she discusses children from war zones, who now find themselves without country, citizenship, protection or much compassion. The countries from which ISIS children originate are confronted with a grave humanitarian crisis. Leaving children to languish and die in refugee camps and prisons is an unconscionable abuse of human rights.

May 4, 2020

Mia Bloom's new article "From Pawn to Knights: The Changing Role of Women's Agency in Terrorism?"

Minerva-funded researcher, Mia Bloom's new article "Mia Bloom's new article "From Pawn to Knights: The Changing Role of Women's Agency in Terrorism?". As terrorist groups became more technologically advanced with their media campaigns, the global audience began to see pictures of women in black burkas pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and posing with guns. Although there is a backlash against such change that we see reflected in the ideologies of violent extremism; the shifts in gender relations within these groups are significant to examine.

Dec. 20, 2019

Minerva researchers' new article on "Exploring the Social-Ecological Factors that Mobilize Children into Violence"

This article applies the social-ecological model to children’s mobilization into two violent groups—Central American gangs and terrorist organizations. While these two groups clearly differ in important ways, there are contextual similarities that frame a child’s involvement in each. For example, both flourish in low-resource settings where governmental structures may have been weakened or disrupted. Does it follow, therefore, that similar processes are at play in relation to children engaging in violent groups?