One of the keys to dealing with militant Islamic groups is understanding how they work with, relate to, and motivate their constituencies. Mobilizing the Faithful offers a pair of detailed case studies—of the Egyptian groups al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya and al-Jihad and Lebanon's Hizbullah—to identify typical forms of support relationships, development patterns, and dynamics of both radicalization and restraint. The insights it offers into the crucial relationship between militants and the communities from which they arise are widely applicable to violent insurgencies not only in the Middle East but around the world.

Stefan Malthaner is a researcher at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University.