Etude Ruffieux

I would like to highly recommend this book, which is suitable for those interested in evidence-based research on global terrorism and also for those who want to learn the tools required to develop a critical approach to analyzing terrorism data, and hence, better understand terrorism in its whole. The literature accessible to the public has almost exclusively relied on qualitative work or has illustrated case studies. Therefore, it has failed to provide to non-experts a global picture of this very complex phenomenon. The author addresses the gap by bringing a clear overview of the extent and magnitude of terrorism worldwide, this at various spatial and temporal scales. Furthermore, he provides convincing arguments to debunk myths about terrorism, which are often relayed by social media. While demonstrating the benefits of using statistics to analyze terrorism, the author constantly reminds the reader about the limits of any scientific inquiry on terrorism. Terrorism will never be fully understood, however statistics is a formidable tool to improve our understanding and to challenge some common misperceptions.