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Analogical reasoning has held a perpetual appeal to policymakers who have often drafted in historical metaphor as a mode of informing decision making. However, this article contends that since the beginning of the 'War on Terror', we have arguably seen the rise of a more potent form of analogy, namely ones that are selected because they fulfil an ideological function. Analogical reasoning as a tool of rational decision making has increasingly become replaced by analogical reasoning as a tool of trenchant ideologically informed policy justification. This article addresses three key areas that map out the importance of analogical reasoning to an understanding of developments in contemporary international politics: the relationship between history and politics, in intellectual and policy terms; a critical assessment of the appeal that analogical reasoning holds for policymakers; and the development of a rationale for a more effective use of history in international public policy making.

The Islamic State is an organization at the nexus of modern slavery and terrorism. This article provides the first in-depth analysis of how it regulated slavery. With a consideration of gendered approaches, it applies multiple data sources to reveal a three-part assessment of the forms, establishment, and regulation of slavery from 2014 to 2017. Beginning with the August 2014 Sinjar massacre, it reveals the logistics of slavery through an innovative process entitled the Division and Regulation of Enslavement Framework. It concludes with a discussion on the domestic and international aspects of this crime, detailing recommendations for research and policy.

This article assesses how veteran care can be placed at the centre of our understanding of the modern Military Covenant and located as a key issue in contemporary civil–military relations and public policy. Healthcare and welfare provision have become primary manifestations of how the British state fulfils its duty of care towards military personnel. The article aims to present an overview of current provision for veterans of Britain's modern wars and draw conclusions regarding the state's ability to provide short and long‐term healthcare and welfare requirements to veterans as part of the Covenant under the rubric of ‘Big Society’‐inspired policy shifts engendered by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Like other forms of criminal deviance, terrorism requires basic knowledge, knowledge about whom or what to attack-and how to attack them. Terrorists with sufficient knowledge and practical experience are more likely to execute "successful" attacks than those lacking these critical attributes. But some terrorists are more informed-and experienced-than others. The skills and expertise of those who plan, coordinate, and execute terrorist attacks are variable, not constant. These assumptions beg an important, yet understudied, question: how do terrorists actually acquire the information and expertise they need to carry out acts of political violence? The answer, this study shows, depends on the type of knowledge being acquired. Abstract technical knowledge, or techne, lends itself to codification in knowledge-based artifacts and can be readily taught through formal instruction. While techne is important to terrorists, it is not their only, or even their most important, source of knowledge. Terrorists also rely on experiential knowledge and cunning intelligence, in a word mētis, to develop the practical expertise that allows them to perform violent acts in local settings. Mētis helps account for the resilience of "Islamist terrorism" since the war on terror began seven years ago. This study makes three contributions to the small, but growing, body of literature on terrorism and learning. First, the research focuses on two case studies, "Islamist" militancy in Spain and the United Kingdom, and Western Europe more generally, that have been largely ignored in existing studies on terrorism learning. Second, contrary to current research and media accounts, this study critically examines the role of the Internet in facilitating terrorism learning. While the Internet likely plays an important role in 10 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Militants who dedicate themselves to political violence are a motley-lot, full of unyielding devotion to the cause, but possessing varying levels of understanding about their craft. While dedication is important, intentions do not equal capabilities. Indeed, what is striking about several recent terrorist attacks in Western Europe, such as the failed car bombings in the West End neighborhood of London and the Glasgow International Airport in the summer of 2007, is the apparent incompetence of the perpetrators. The London and Glasgow attacks, carried out by presumably intelligent and well-educated medical doctors, involved the amateurish use of sedans and S.U.V.s stuffed with gas canisters, gasoline, and nails, a noxious but slipshod stew, suggesting the attackers were incapable of acquiring, let alone building, simple explosive devices. The doctors who carried out the attacks surely had violent intentions, but they lacked the capabil...