Mauro Lubrano
PhD Candidate
Mauro Lubrano is a PhD Candidate at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) and an academic tutor for undergraduate students at the University of St Andrews, School of International Relations. His research project investigates the processes of strategic innovation in terrorist organisations and seeks to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the changes in the strategies that terrorists adopt. He is also interested in the relationship between technology and terrorists’ decision-making, anti-technology extremism, and insurrectionary anarchism. His works have been published in Terrorism and Political Violence and he is currently working on a book on the anti-technology movement which is due in 2024.
Before his PhD studies, he was a Research Assistant at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (CGSR-LLNL) as well as at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and interned at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). He holds an M.A. in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (USA) and an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Research from the Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Mauro is fluent in English, German, and Italian and conversational in Spanish.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ma_lubrano
Mauro’s research project is premised on the straightforward assumption that terrorism is never a static phenomenon. Instead, it evolves, taking on new forms and expressions. Similarly, terrorist organizations engage in processes which impact behavioural patterns in the attempt to gain the upper hand. Previous scholarly works have argued that these innovations can be tactical, strategic or organisational. However, the literature has focused mainly on changes in weapons adoption, target selection and organisational structures, and has lacked to address issues of strategic innovation.
Therefore, his research aims at understanding the rationale and dynamics of the processes of strategic innovation. By analysing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind the changes in the strategies that terrorist organisations adopt, this study attempts to develop a theoretical framework that can be used to analyse and compare different instances of strategic innovation. To do so, it carries out a structured, focused comparison of three historical organisations, namely the Provisional IRA, ETA, and the Red Brigades. The project relies heavily on primary sources, including court documents, interviews, and organisations’ documents discussing theoretical, strategic, and practical approaches to the armed struggle.
Beside adding to the academic debate about terrorist innovation, the findings of this project could be relevant for policymakers as well, by providing enhanced knowledge on how to defuse terrorist campaigns more efficiently.