Held Hostage: Analyses of Kidnapping Across Time and Among Jihadist Organizations - Islamic Terrorism, al Qaeda, ISIS, ISIL, Taliban, Boko Haram, Al Nusra, al-Shabaab, Historical Perspective, Pirates

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this book provides policymakers, practitioners, and academics with data and analysis regarding kidnapping events perpetrated by jihadist groups against Westerners in non-Western countries. It will do so by first examining all non-state actor kidnappings from both a macro- and micro-level to place the phenomenon in context. This general approach then becomes the springboard from which to compare and contrast trends in jihadist kidnappings with those of other non-state actors. Following a brief introduction that outlines the scope, data, and methods used in the study, the first section's macro-level analysis uses data from the Global Terrorism Database (GDT) maintained by the University of Maryland's START Consortium (7,048 incidents between 1970 and 2013). The second section's micro-level analysis of kidnapping events involving Western hostages since 2001 utilizes an original Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) dataset consisting of 1,485 observations that incorporated data from individual academics, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), non-profit and for-profit research think tanks, and private sector insurance companies.

There has been a worldwide spike in kidnapping events since 2003. The trend is global and not confined to one specific region. The overwhelming majority of kidnappings are domestic (intra-state); kidnappings of Westerners are rare in comparison to the universe of kidnappings.

Kidnapping of Westerners (2001-2015) Overall Trends - Although total non-state actor kidnapping incidents and victims peaked in 2008 due to Somali piracy, the number of incidents and victims have trended upward from 2010 to 2014. Jihadist groups are primarily responsible for these increases. The Middle East, followed by Africa, accounts for the most total kidnappings and the most Sunni jihadist kidnappings, however, most abductions in Africa are conducted by non-jihadist actors.

Trends in Nationality of Victims - Six countries (Turkey, United States, Italy, United Kingdom, France, and Germany) account for more than 60% of total, jihadist, and other non-state actor kidnappings. Trends in Sunni jihadist kidnapping rates from 2010-2014 for these countries generally mirror the overall increase in Sunni jihadist abductions, casting some doubt on the ability or desire of Sunni jihadist groups to target by nationality.