From Freedom Fighters to Jihadists: A Book Talk with Vera Mironova

Featuring findings from more than 600 survey-interviews with local civilians and fighters on the frontline in Syria, Mironova shows how organizational and strategic factors help explain how extreme Islamist groups were able to attract fighters away from initial moderate groups. Mironova also explains how those same factor came embedded with their own challenges and contradictions.
Vera Mironova’s research explores how violence affects individuals’ attitudes and decision-making. As a WAPPP Fellow, she is examining the role of conflict in the practice of forced marriages of under-age girls in Yemen. Examining the role of conflict in the practice of forced marriages of under-age girls in Yemen, Vera Mironova is a joint research fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program and the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, she is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Maryland.