Mathieu Guidère

Mathieu Guidere is a full professor at the University of Paris 8 (since 2016). A scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies as it applies to radicalization and terrorism, he has held other professorships at such prestigious institutions including the University of Geneva, Switzerland (2007 to 2011) and the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, France (2003-2007). Dr. Guidere is co-founder of the Radicalization Watch Project based in Washington, D.C and has been awarded a Fulbright Prize in 2006 to advance his research on the psychology of terrorism. He has been also editor-in-chief of the Defense Concepts Journal.

Dr. Guidere has published books on the Islamic State (ISIS) and on the Al-Qaeda organization and its activities in North Africa and the Middle East such as "The Return of the Caliphate" and The New Terrorists (Les Nouveaux Terroristes, Autrement, 2010) and The Al-Qaeda Recruitment Manual (Le Manuel de recrutement d'Al-Qaeda, Le Seuil, 2007) which has been translated into Spanish (Manual de Reclutamiento Al Qaeda, Edorial Base, 2007). He has also published in English "The Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism" and for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: "The Tribal Allegiance System within AQIM."[1]

Since 2011, Dr. Guidere has been a Senior Fellow at The Brain Sciences Foundation. He was also a lead researcher for MIT Mind Machine Project. His research activities deal with the cognition of terrorism and its psychological stakes particularly as they apply to the protection of civilians (PoC) and to international law enforcement. He has been regularly interviewed by major international media such as CBS News, France24 English, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post for his expertise in behavioral sciences as related to radicalisation and terrorism.

During the 1990s, Mathieu Guidère worked on issues surrounding global communications from and to the Arabic language. Afterwards, he published several works including Advertising and Translation (Publicité et traduction, L'Harmattan, 2000), The Multilingual Communication: Market and Institutional Translation (La communication multilingue : Traduction commerciale et institutionnelle], De Boeck, 2008), and Iraq in Translation: The Art of Losing a War without Knowing the Language of your Opponent (Irak in translation : De l'art de perdre une guerre sans connaître la langue de son adversaire, Jacob-Duvernet, 2008).

Education

Mathieu Guidere's interest in studying the Arab world began while he was a child as he spent his first 18 years in various countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. There, he received both a French and Arabic education. Upon arriving to Paris, he began his advanced studies at the Sorbonne University. There, he studied French literature and Middle Eastern cultures at Bachelor then the Master's level. During this time, he joined the Ecole supérieure de cadres interprètes traducteurs and graduated from there in 1995.[2] Then, in 1997, he received the agrégation degree in Arabic language and culture before obtaining his doctoral degree in linguistics a year later and while preparing a second Doctorate in medieval Arab history from Paris-Sorbonne University.[3]

In short, Guidère holds a Ph.D. in linguistics, a Master's diploma in French Linguistics and a MA in Arabic Studies, as well as a Bachelor's in Middle Eastern Studies and a BA in French literature. He also has an HDR diploma (Accreditation to Supervise Doctoral Research, Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches) since 2005. His degrees were completed in both French and Arabic. He is fluent in several languages including a dozen of Arabic dialects.

Career

After his agrégation degree (1997), Guidere became an Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences) at the Lumière University Lyon 2 in France where he taught linguistics and translation from 1998 to 2003.[4] After September 11, 2001, the French government made use of his knowledge and Guidere was appointed Resident Professor by the French Military Academy of Saint-Cyr in 2003. While at this position (which lasted until 2007), he was also the director of the Strategic Information Analysis Laboratory (LAISVT) in the academy's research center (CREC Saint-Cyr).

In 2006, he began to study radical groups for the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington D.C.. Then, in 2007, Guidere joined the University of Geneva (Switzerland) where he was a full Professor of multilingual monitoring and translation studies.[5] Since 2016, he remains at his post at the University of Paris 8, as a full professor of history and Islamic civilization.

In his books on terrorism (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016), Dr. Guidere examines, analyzes, evaluates and synthesizes what has been stated in the scientific and professional literature about the etiology of terrorism. He also offers a logical framework and an exploration of the psychodynamics of "Islamist Terrorism" by focusing on the concept of "fanaticism" which carries some implications of mental illness since the fanatic often has fastidious perspective to the world view, which is at the extreme end of a continuum.

In his recent books, he explains the cultural factors of terrorism and argues that violent actions derive from historical, political, and educational parameters. By giving thorough translations of terrorist biographies and case histories, he provides evidences that most major players in a terrorist organization are motivated by political and ideological mobiles often facilitated experiences of injustice, resentment and humiliation.

In "The Return of the Caliphate" (Paris, 2016), Dr. Guidere explores the frustration-aggression dynamics of Islamic State militants. He shows that the historical background is a key element to understand the new trends in radicalisation and terrorism. The New Terrorists (Paris, 2010) continues his research and investigates the effects of western foreign policy in the radicalization process of individuals in Western societies. Dr. Guidere shows that among terrorists, the themes of perceived injustice and humiliation are dominant. This misperception appears as a possible source of motivation for aggressive actions and, in some cases, a trigger for hardening one's militant ideology.

Selected Works

Recent Interviews

Articles

External links

  1. ↑ Tribal Allegiance System within AQIM
  2. ↑ Description des diplômes sur le CV en ligne
  3. ↑ http://archives.tdg.ch/TG/TG/-/article-2010-11-3339/apeine-assis-mathieu-guidere-commence-son-expose
  4. ↑ Mention du poste de Mathieu Guidère sur le site de l'association des professeurs de langues vivantes
  5. ↑ Extrait de point presse du Conseil d'état
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