| Abstract: | Suicidal acts of terrorism conducted by lone actors independently of overseas command and control networks currently dominate the European landscape. Intelligence suggests from a population of fifty-two attackers between 2012 and 2017, at least 75% had a history of chronic substance abuse. Almost exclusively, Muslims do not engage in 12-step recovery programmes like Alcoholics Anonymous. We hypothesize that as both an ideology and agent of socialization, Islamic fundamentalism provides a structurally equivalent alternative. Yet, it is a programme that inadvertently directs a minority of vulnerable men along a pathway towards isolation, obsession, resentment and finally martyrdom. |
