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“The Tortured Tsarnaevs”

William Saletan in Slate on April 28, 2013 rounds up several stories that explore the possible explanations and motivations behind the radicalization of the suspects.

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“Officials: Boston bomb suspect read jihadist sites”

An April 23, 2013 Associated Press story says questioning of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by authorities indicated “the two brothers were motivated by an anti-American, radical version of Islam.” A CNN story adds that the older brother was the driving force behind the attacks and that they had no contact with international terrorist groups but were affected by watching videos online.

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“Everything You’ve Been Told About Radicalization Is Wrong”

Read a May 6, 2013 Rolling Stone article that analyses media’s effect on radicalism. It quotes John Horgan, director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Pennsylvania State University, as downplaying the idea that young men can “self-radicalize” by watch YouTube videos and reading Al Qaeda magazines.”

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Scott Atran

Scott Atran is an adjunct professor in the psychology department at the University of Michigan and is associated with its Research Center for Group Dynamics. He can discuss jihadi movements and al-Qaeda. He is also the author of In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of American Religion (2004).

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