In this great interview from New Books in National Security, Omar Ashour, author of How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, talks to host Jeffrey Bristol about his work.
They discuss the origin of Ashour’s study and how ISIS franchises spread. The interview also explores the potential threats of ISIS as an international terrorist organisation and why it grew as quickly as it did. They also look ahead to what the future might hold for ISIS.
Find out more about the interview over on New Books Network, or listen below:
Cristina Plamadeala, "Dossierveillance, Collaboration, and Fear in Society: The Saga of a Journey Through the Securitate Archives and Beyond" (Routledge, 2025) – New Books in National Security
Exploring the cultural history of surveillance practices of the Securitate, Romania's secret police during its communist period, the book blends biographical details in a historical inquiry to establish the concepts of psuchegraphy, dossierveillance, and banalization of evil in the study of Securitate Archives. In the context of communist Romania under the reign of Nicolae Ceauşescu (1965-89), dossierveillance was a type of surveillance that stresses the miasmic effect of Securitate dossiers in the daily life of Romanians. Centered around the analysis of this concept, Dossierveillance, Collaboration, and Fear in Society: The Saga of a Journey Through the Securitate Archives and Beyond (Routledge, 2025) presents a unique account of the surveillance practices of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, expanding its relevance to fear in the current neo-liberal societies. This book will appeal to students of Eastern European history and politics, criminology, sociology, anthropology, and surveillance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/national-security
- Cristina Plamadeala, "Dossierveillance, Collaboration, and Fear in Society: The Saga of a Journey Through the Securitate Archives and Beyond" (Routledge, 2025)
- Tyler Jost, "Bureaucracies at War: The Institutional Origins of Miscalculation" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
- Tim Weiner, "The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century" (Mariner Books, 2025)
- Karen Robert, "Driving Terror: Labor, Violence, and Justice in Cold War Argentina" (U New Mexico Press, 2025)
- Zach Fredman and Judd Kinzley eds., "Uneasy Allies: Sino-American Relations at the Grassroots, 1937–1949" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
About the Author
Omar Ashour is an Associate Professor of Security and Military Studies and the Founding Chair of the Critical Security Studies Programme at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. He is the author of How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt (Edinburgh University Press, 2021) as well as the editor of Bullets to Ballots: Collective De-Radicalisation of Armed Movements (Edinburgh University Press, 2021).
