Small Arms - by Mia Bloom (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Analyzes the mechanisms for the mobilization of children by terrorist organizations, contrasts children in terrorist movements with child soldiers, and discusses what strategies might be helpful for demobilizing and re-integrating these children back into society"--

Book Synopsis

Why do terrorist organizations use children to support their cause and carry out their activities? Small Arms uncovers the brutal truth behind the mobilization of children by terrorist groups.

Mia Bloom and John Horgan show us the grim underbelly of society that allows and even encourages the use of children to conduct terrorist activities. They provide readers with the who, what, when, why, and how of this increasingly concerning situation, illuminating a phenomenon that to most of us seems abhorrent. And yet, they argue, for terrorist groups the use of children carries many benefits. Children possess skills that adults lack. They often bring innovation and creativity. Children are, in fact, a superb demographic from which to recruit if you are a terrorist.

Small Arms answers questions about recruitment strategies and tactics, determines what makes a child terrorist and what makes him or her different from an adult one, and charts the ways in which organizations use them. The unconventional focus on child and youth militants allows the authors to, in essence, give us a biography of the child terrorist and the organizations that use them. We are taken inside the mind of the adult and the child to witness that which perhaps most scares us.

Review Quotes

Bloom and Horgan have done a masterful job of building their argument and demonstrating their concepts without lingering on the worst aspects of their subject. It belongs on the shelf of any individual interested in modern conflicts and should be of enormous utility in a wide variety of undergraduate courses.

-- "H-Net"

Small Arms is a must-read for policymakers and planners working on counterterrorism strategy. With so little existing political science scholarship in this arena, Bloom and Horgan earn the dubious distinction of providing the most comprehensive overview of children and terrorism.

-- "Joint Forces Quarterly"

Small Arms: Children and Terrorism addresses an important issue in terrorism literature--the use of children to carry out acts of terrorism worldwide. [The book] highlights a topic rapidly growing in prevalence around the world, and future military leaders must learn how to deal with this new pandemic problem.

-- "The US Army War College Quarterly"

Small Arms: Children and Terrorism is an important, timely, and interdisciplinary work that offers new insight into the issue of children in conflict.

-- "H-Net H-War"

[Arabic language review]

-- "Hafryat"

Bloom and Horgan offer a tour de force of the critical issue of children and terrorism. Their book is a must-read for anyone interested in getting the full and disturbing picture of contemporary terrorism.

-- "PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICS"

Bloom and Horgan's Small Arms: Children and Terrorism is an engagingly written, conceptually coherent contribution to scholarship around the use of children by violent extremist organizations (VEOs), with special consideration given to how these practices contrast with the use of child soldiers by other armed groups.

-- "Terrorism & Political Violence"

Drawing on a wide body of case studies, the authors examine the many ways child soldiers are drawn into their roles--which, in the end, usually turn out to be as cannon fodder.... Of interest to military planners as well as workers in the humanitarian aid/NGO sphere.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

The lack of universally generalizable policy recommendations may be off-putting for those looking for easy solutions, but if describing the phenomenon is the first step to understanding it, then this work is essential reading.

-- "Choice"

About the Author

Mia Bloom is Professor of Communication at Georgia State University. She is author of several books, including, most recently, Bombshell.

John G. Horgan is Distinguished University Professor in the Global Studies Institute at Georgia State University. He is author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Psychology of Terrorism.