Data Sources and Suggested Readings

Data sources:

Muslim-American terrorism:
Charles Kurzman, Muslim-American Terrorism.

Murders in the United States:
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Report.

Terrorism in Western Europe:
Europol, EU Terrorism Situation and Terrorism Report (TE-SAT).

Terrorism worldwide since 1970:
START Center, University of Maryland, Global Terrorism Database.

Terrorism worldwide, 2004-2011:
National Counterrrorism Center, Worldwide Incident Tracking System.

This source was discontinued and taken off-line in April 2012. I have an archived XML version of the dataset covering January 1, 2004, through June 30, 2011, that I downloaded on November 18, 2011, and country totals through the end of 2011 that I downloaded on March 16, 2012. Please contact me if you wish to use this dataset for research purposes.

Causes of death worldwide, 2000 and 2012:
World Health Organization, Global Burden of Disease.

Wars since 1946:
Uppsala Conflict Data Program/Peace Research Institute Oslo, Armed Conflict Dataset.

For a summary, see Therése Pettersson & Peter Wallensteen, “Armed Conflict, 1946-2014,” Journal of Peace Research 52(4), 2015, pp. 536-550.

Muslim religious leaders denouncing terrorism:
Charles Kurzman, Islamic Statements Against Terrorism.

Muslim attitudes on democracy and cultural issues:
World Values Survey.

Muslim attitudes on terrorism and other issues:
Pew Global Attitudes Project.

For summaries, see “Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah,” December 2, 2010; “The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society,” April 30, 2013; “Muslim Views on Suicide Bombing,” June 30, 2014; “In Nations with Significant Muslim Populations, Much Disdain for ISIS,” November 17, 2015.

American attitudes on intentional targeting of civilians:
WorldPublicOpinion.org, “Public Opinion in Iran and America on Key International Issues,” January 24, 2007, p. 10.

Suggested readings:

On terrorism:

Ben Saul, Defining Terrorism in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Charles Kurzman, The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Charles Kurzman, “Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?” Foreign Policy, September/October 2011.

Will McCants, “Al Qaeda’s Challenge,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2011.

John Mueller, Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them (Free Press, 2006)

On Islam:

Carl Ernst, Following Muhammad (University of North Carolina Press, 2003).

Bruce Lawrence, The Qur’an: A Biography (Atlantic, 2007).

Omid Safi, Memories of Muhammad (HarperOne, 2010).