Can the concepts of fanaticism and imperialism adequately explain terrorism and the wars against it? What if our understanding of these phenomena needed to be reconsidered in light of René Girard’s concept of ‘mimicry’, whereby people imitate each other, collectively producing an escalation of violence? Drawing on a socio-historical investigation based on archives and interviews, Mathias Delori analyses how, for thirty years, jihadists, politicians, journalists and pseudo-experts in ‘radicalisation’ have undermined strategic thinking, producing a world in which attacks respond to bombings and bombings respond to attacks.

The war on terror as mimetic rivalry
by Mathias Delori (Author)
© 2025 Monographies XXIV, 262 pages.
History and Political Science:
Explosive Politics Collection, Volume 5.