Alessandro Orsini (sociologist)

This article is about the 21st-century professor. For the 17th-century cardinal, see Alessandro Orsini (cardinal).

Alessandro Orsini
Orsini in 2013
Born	(1975-04-14) 14 April 1975 (age 50) Naples, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Occupation(s)	Sociologist, writer

Alessandro Orsini (born 14 April 1975) ^[1] is an Italian sociologist and scholar of terrorism who is an associate professor at LUISS University ^[2] and is best known in Italy for his controversial views over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ^{[3] [4]}

Early life and education

Orsini was born in Naples, the son of Arturo Orsini, a Jungian psychologist who was later a professor of theory and techniques of personality testing and director of the School of Clinical Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome. When he was fifteen, his family moved to Latina, where he graduated from the Liceo Classico Dante Alighieri. ^[5] He earned a degree in sociology from Sapienza University followed by a doctorate from Roma Tre University. ^[1]

Career

In November 2004, Orsini took up a position as a researcher at Libera Università Mediterranea. He had teaching duties, and in 2007 was disciplined by the university for absenteeism. Several well-known sociologists, and the Federation of Education Workers union, wrote to the university in Orsini's support. ^{[6] [7]} He was subsequently a researcher in the sociology of political phenomena at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where from 2013 to 2016 he directed the Centre for Terrorism Studies, with a focus on Islamist terrorism in Europe. ^[1] His book on ISIS published by Rizzoli Libri won the Cimitile Prize  [ it ] for best work on a current-affairs topic in 2016. ^[8]

At LUISS University, Orsini is an associate professor and teaches general sociology and sociology of terrorism. From 2011 to 2022, he was also a research affiliate at the Center for International Studies at MIT, in the United States, where he was a Visiting Scholar at both the Department of Political Science and the Center for International Studies. ^{[1] [9] [10]} His research interests focus on "strategies for access to violent groups motivated by ideological hate". ^[1] He is the founder and director of LUISS University's Observatory on International Security and of the news website Sicurezza Internazionale. ^{[1] [11] [12]} He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, of the Radicalisation Awareness Network of the Council of Europe, and of the "future scenarios" committee of the Stato maggiore della difesa  [ it ] of the Italian Armed Forces. ^[1]

From 2019 to 2022, Orsini was a columnist on Il Messaggero , writing articles on geopolitical and international issues. Following the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he left Il Messaggero due to conflicts with the editor Massimo Martinelli. ^[13] He subsequently became a columnist for Il Fatto Quotidiano upon the invitation of the editor Marco Travaglio. ^[14]

DRIA model

Based on terrorists' biographies, Orsini has developed what he calls the DRIA model (disintegration, reconstruction, integration, alienation) to explain the process of radicalization. ^{[15] [16]} Orsini says this analysis applies to "vocational terrorists". ^[15] He defines these as people prepared to sacrifice their lives for a politico-religious ideology – an ideology that is marked by the belief that the world, as it is, is entirely corrupted ("radical catastrophism") and destined to be destroyed ("waiting for the end"), as well as an obsession with ridding the world of evil, the dehumanization of enemies, the relishing of martyrdom and persecution, and a belief that the end justifies the means. ^{[15] [17] [18]} According to Orsini, this activity answers an unmet spiritual need for meaning in terrorists' lives. ^[16]

The model comprises four stages: ^{[16] [19]}

• D – disintegration of social identity stage (social marginality). The individual undergoes a crisis in which their previous sense of self is destroyed, leading to a "cognitive opening" and the search for a new way of life. ^{[16] [20]} Radicalization is only one possible outcome; many other, healthy developments are possible at this point. ^[16]
• R – reconstruction of social identity stage (acquisition of "binary code" mentality). The individual comes into contact with and adopts a radical ideology, fundamentally altering their view of the world and the meaning of human life in terms of a struggle between good and evil. ^{[15] [16]}
• I – integration in the revolutionary sect stage (entry into a politico-religious group or "community of absolute revolution"). The individual becomes more or less closely affiliated with a terrorist group, be it through actual contact and integration or by imagining themselves to be part of the group (lone wolf). ^[16]
• A – alienation from the surrounding world stage (detachment from reality). This is the crucial stage that brings the terrorist to a point where they are able to murder others and marks the completion of the radicalization process. ^[16]

Works and reception

Anatomy of the Red Brigades

Italian edition

In 2009, Orsini published a monograph on the motivations of those who joined the Red Brigade, a far-left group, from Rubbettino Editore  [ it ]; it was originally submitted to il Mulino  [ it ], Italy's premier publisher in social sciences, who rejected it. ^[21] Spencer M. Di Scala, a historian specialized in Italian socialism, prefaced the book. ^[21]

Orsini uses the Red Brigades as a case study for his view that political homicide, whether coming from the extreme left or from neo-Nazi groups, whether from non-state actors or from groups such as the Pol Pot regime that have taken over the state apparatus, is motivated by a messianic form of thinking. ^{[22] [23] [24]} Violent religious or political sects succeed in turning their members into terrorists only to the extent that they succeed in indoctrinating them into believing that the group has a spiritual mission to purify the world of corruption. ^{[22] [23]}

Upon publication, Richard Drake, a historian of contemporary Europe, Italian history, and terrorism, characterized Orsini's discussion of the background of the Red Brigades as a "tour de force of intellectual history" in its attempts to explain not only the history of Italian terrorism, but the source of terroristic thought as well. ^[25] Guido Panvini, a social historian focused on European history and political violence and terrorism, thought the wide range of historical parallels cited by Orsini, while offering many insights, might leave the reader somewhat disorientated but found the link Orsini had established between terrorist violence and the behaviour of right-wing radicals and totalitarian regimes particularly interesting. ^[24] The work went on to win the Acqui Award of History. ^[26]

English translation

Two years later, a translation was published by Cornell University Press. This received quite mixed reviews: while some highlighted its contribution to understanding terrorists' mindset, others criticized, in particular, a lack of historicism.

• Lawrence Freedman, a scholar in strategic studies and resident reviewer for Foreign Affairs , included the work in his choice of the top three titles on "military, scientific, and technological" topics published in 2011, ^[27]
• while R. J. B. Bosworth, a historian specializing in Fascist Italy, panned the book and attributed its positive reception in Italy to pro-Berlusconi sentiments. ^[26]
• Anna Cento Bull, a professor of Italian history, politics, and fascism, found Orsini's conclusions provocative but "too one-sided to be convincing" in that they were marked by a total disregard not only for the historical and cultural context that gave rise to the Red Brigade but also the group's evolution over time; his usage of interviews and internal documents as objective sources drew criticism as well. ^[28]
• Tobias Hof, a historian of European terrorism, raised similar issues, writing that though it offered a "stimulating insight" into the mindset of the Red Brigades, it lacked "thorough historical contextualisation" and neglected "the political and social background as well as the historic tradition of violence in Italy", thereby potentially overgeneralizing the phenomenon of radicalization. ^[29]
• Much the same critique was made by Ryan Shaffer, a historian focused on Asian and European history with a particular interest in extremism and political violence, although he thought that despite these shortcomings, the book provided an "insightful look at the mindset of modern political terrorists" and gave scholars "a theoretical model to explain an individual's route from marginal existence to 'revolutionary' action". ^[30]
• Brian Sandberg, specializing in the intersections of religion, violence, and European political culture, found Orsini to have adopted a "completely ahistorical approach", adding that his failure to interrogate his source materials and superficial readings led him to problematic generalizations. ^[31]
• Gearóid Barry, a historian of pacifism and religion in interwar Europe, found Orsini's portrayal of the historical lineage of the Red Brigades "deeply problematic" because it ignored the role the "Christian Democrats' hegemony" had played in the group's formation; discussing Orsini's attempt to portray the Red Brigades as firmly within the tradition of Italian Communism rather than communists who had "gone bad", Barry said "the tone of sorrowing indignation adopted by Orsini cannot hide the weaker points in his circular arguments". ^[32]
• Phil Edwards, a historian specializing in Italian radicalism, was scathing in his assessment—Orsini's analysis was "deliberately ahistorical", shaded by pro-right political partisanship, and his usage of primary sources, marked by an inquisitorial tendency and selective quoting, had no regard for either context or accuracy; the end result, despite some genuinely interesting material on radicalization, was not an "anatomy" of the Red Brigades but an "anathema". ^[33]
• Julian Bourg, specializing in intellectual histories of European terrorism, panned the book; Orsini relied on "dehistoricized political theology to explain wildly dissimilar worldly phenomena"—going so far as to claim that Müntzer, Robespierre, Mao, and Brigadist Mario Moretti shared the same worldview—and like early 20th-century philosophers, located the root cause of all political dilemmas in the religious sphere. ^[17]
• John Veugelers, specializing in Italian far-right and social movements, found the book frustrating; he said the central argument of the book stood on cherry-picked evidence, the historical and cultural context was lacking in that the influences of the Catholic Church and the Italian Civil War did not feature at all, and Orsini's theoretical apparatus was decades old, having had its heyday in the 1960s. ^[34]
• Jeffrey Herf, a historian specializing in European history and communism during the Cold War, was more critical of these imperatives of historicism, calling the work a "welcome turn away from social science reductionism"; for Herf, the primary sources Orsini uncovered were invaluable as they allowed him to show how "eschatological ideology" rather than "material concerns" can motivate violence. ^[35]
• Likewise, Paul J. Smith, a professor of National Security Affairs, described the book as a "powerful and sweeping study" that provided an "explanatory framework" for the Red Brigades' actions and motivations and made an "enormous contribution" to the field. ^[36]
• John R. Hall, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, said he found Orsini's analysis of the Red Brigades as a quasi-religious "active sect" convincing and consistent with his own analysis of utopian movements. ^[37] Hall concluded that the book offered "a compelling and descriptively thick portrait of religious terrorism as a type of organized social action." ^[37]
• Soma Chaudhuri, a sociologist studying gender, social movements, and violence, said Orsini had analyzed the process by which ordinary people become killers through the concept of a "pedagogy of intolerance"—an "apocalyptic vision of history" where the world is seen as ruled by enemies of humanity—"pigs". ^[38] She concluded: "This is a uniquely organized book, and it is my assessment that scholars in the future will be comparing it with Christopher Browning's monograph on Nazi holocaust, Ordinary Men ." ^[38]
• Alex P. Schmid of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) praised the book as an "excellent" work in 2014 and highlighted it as an example of increasing numbers of good researchers joining the field. ^[39]

Sacrifice: My Life in a Fascist Militia

In the early 2010s, ^[40] Orsini embedded himself within two fascist militias for a span of three months to gain an auto-ethnographic perspective, later published as Sacrifice: My Life in a Fascist Militia. ^[41] R. J. B. Bosworth found the work to be an uncritical portrayal that was quite sympathetic towards fascists. ^[41] Christiane Olivo, specializing in the politics of social dissent in post-Communist East-Central Europe, was struck by Orsini's first-hand description of the rupture with the ambient "bourgeois ideology" of conflict-avoidance and self-preservation that resulted from the fascist groups' emphasis on the practice of combat sports like MMA, which instilled values of self-sacrifice and encouraged seeking out violent conflict (by brawling with far-left groups) as a valorous way of life. ^[42]

L'Eretico della sinistra: Bruno Rizzi élitista democratico

João Bernardo, a Portuguese historian of communism, capitalism, and fascism, stated that while the book "usefully" discusses the development of Bruno Rizzi's political stances from 1937 on, a topic that has been largely lacking in scholarship, he found the book to be "seriously wanting" by not including the broader debate of critical leftist thoughts on the Soviet Union beyond "Trotsky's views pertaining to the Stalinist USSR". By the omission of multiple other views from Italian political thinkers throughout Rizzi's lifetime and their impact on his thinking, the book creates a "Bruno Rizzi palatable to contemporary taste, expurgating everything of which neoliberals are not fond" and ultimately harms understanding of the individual being presented. ^[43]

Views

Ukraine

Orsini had a rapid rise in popularity as a controversial talk-show guest during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ^{[44] [45] [46] [47]} where he repeatedly expressed his criticism of NATO's expansionism towards Russia and the European Union's diplomatic failure, which he considers to be co-factors of the war in Ukraine. Papers like Corriere della Sera and Le Monde have described Orsini as spreading Russian war propaganda. ^{[44] [48]} LUISS University, fearing reputational harms, issued a statement in 2022 expressing its "full solidarity with the Ukrainian people". ^[48]

In March 2024, Orsini wrote an article in Il Fatto Quotidiano stating that Italian soldiers and vehicles were on duty at the Constanța base in Romania and that they were in imminent danger from a Ukrainian military defeat. ^[49] The Italian Ministry of Defence rejected the claims stating that Orsini's statements were "completely false. The Italian Air Force servicemen, who were part of the Task Force 'Gladiator' in Constanța, returned to Italy as early as 31 July 2023" adding that "Orsini is either in absolute bad faith or he is not even able to consult normal web sources". ^{[50] [51]}

Italian affairs

Later on in 2023, Orsini endorsed a law proposed by the Meloni government prohibiting the creation of mosques in garages and sheds. He argued that the law was intended to encourage Muslims to gather in large mosques and thus to prevent isolation and radicalization. ^[52]

Books

• — (2002). Ripensare la nazione[Rethink the nation] (in Italian). Seam. p. 183. ISBN   978-88-8179-412-6.
• — (2003). Alle origini del nazionalismo[At the origins of nationalism] (in Italian). Kappa. p. 184. ISBN   978-88-7890-502-3.
• — (2004). L'eretico della sinistra: Bruno Rizzi élitista democratico[The heretic of the left: Bruno Rizzi democratic elitist] (in Italian). FrancoAngeli. p. 176. ISBN   978-88-464-5286-3.
• — (2005). In difesa della sociologia storica[In defense of historical sociology] (in Italian). FrancoAngeli. p. 182. ISBN   978-88-464-6520-7.
• — (2008). Le origini del capitalismo: Storia e interpretazioni[The origins of capitalism: History and interpretations] (in Italian). Marco. p. 324. ISBN   978-88-88897-26-4.
• — (2009). Anatomia delle Brigate rosse: le radici ideologiche del terrorismo rivoluzionario[Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists] (in Italian). Rubbettino. p. 456. ISBN   978-88-498-2491-9. (translated by Sarah J. Nodes; 2011; Cornell University Press)
• — (2010). Il rivoluzionario-benestante: strategie cognitive per sentirsi migliori degli altri[The revolutionary-wealthy: cognitive strategies to feel better than others] (in Italian). Rubbettino. p. 81. ISBN   978-88-498-2701-9.
• — (2012). Gramsci e Turati: le due sinistre[Gramsci and Turati: the two lefts] (in Italian). Rubbettino. p. 147. ISBN   978-88-498-3214-3.
• —; Ferrero, Guglielmo (2013). Le due rivoluzioni francesi[The two French revolutions] (in Italian). Rubbettino. p. 182. ISBN   978-88-498-3247-1.
• — (2016). ISIS: I terroristi più fortunati del mondo e tutto ciò che è stato fatto per favorirli[ISIS: The luckiest terrorists in the world and all that has been done to favor them] (in Italian). Rizzoli Libri. p. 256. ISBN   978-88-586-4703-5.
• — (2017). Sacrifice: My Life in a Fascist Militia. Cornell University Press. p. 228. ISBN   978-1-5017-1227-2.
• — (2018). L'Isis non è morto: ha solo cambiato pelle[Isis is not dead: it just shed its skin] (in Italian). Rizzoli Libri. p. 235. ISBN   978-88-17-09969-1.
• — (2019). Viva gli immigrati![Long live the immigrants!] (in Italian). Rizzoli Libri. p. 224. ISBN   978-88-586-9721-4.
• — (2021). Teoria sociologica classica e contemporanea[Classical and contemporary sociological theory] (in Italian). UTET University. p. 716. ISBN   978-88-6008-677-8.
• — (2022). Ucraina: critica della politica internazionale[Ukraine: critique of international politics] (in Italian). PaperFIRST. p. 305. ISBN   978-88-31431-87-3.

References

1. "Chi è Alessandro Orsini, il professore criticato per le sue idee sulla guerra in Ucraina: 'Pressioni per non andare in tv'". Il Riformista (in Italian). 17 March 2022.
2. "Alessandro Orsini". scienzepolitiche.luiss.it. LUISS University. 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
3. "A success for Kremlin propaganda': how pro-Putin views permeate Italian media". The Guardian . 31 August 2023.
4. "War in Ukraine: pro-Russian propaganda at home on Italian television". Le Monde . 28 May 2022.
5. Aprile, Marianna (8 May 2022). "Alessandro Orsini, chi? Ritratto non autorizzato del sociologo delle polemiche – esclusivo". Oggi (in Italian). Archived from the original on 9 June 2022.
6. "'Lum, via il ricercatore ribelle'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 26 September 2007.
7. "La FLC scrive al Ministro Mussi per la tutela di un ricercatore della L.U.M. di Casamassima". Federation of Education Workers (in Italian). 11 October 2007.
8. Pierini, Ebe (19 June 2016). "Ad Alessandro Orsini il "Premio Cimitile" per la miglior opera di attualità". www.ilmessaggero.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
9. "Alessandro Orsini". LUISS Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
10. Etezadosaltaneh, Nozhan (29 June 2015). "US, Iran, and terrorism". Iranian Diplomacy (interview). Retrieved 22 June 2023– via Center for International Studies, MIT.
11. "People". Observatory on International Security, LUISS University. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022.
12. "Redazione". Sicurezza Internazionale (in Italian). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
13. "Orsini lascia Il Messaggero: "Contro di me una dura campagna diffamatoria"". Affaritaliani.it (in Italian). 17 March 2022.
14. "Alessandro Orsini debutta su Il Fatto Quotidiano: la scelta di Marco Travaglio". Affaritaliani.it (in Italian). 18 March 2022.
15. Dunbar, Edward W. (2022). Indoctrination to Hate: Recruitment Techniques of Hate Groups and How to Stop Them. ABC-CLIO. p. 155. ISBN   978-1-4408-5701-0.
16. De Angelis, Thomas; Armenia, Stefano; De Angelis, Angelo (16 April 2023). "Reducing Terrorism Casualties: Analyzing Policies Effectiveness under a Systems Perspective". Systems . 11 (4): 199. doi: 10.3390/systems11040199 . ISSN   2079-8954.
17. Bourg, Julian (September 2013). "Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists . By Alessandro Orsini. Translated by Sarah J. Nodes.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011. Pp. viii+317. $29.95" . The Journal of Modern History. 85 (3): 706–708. doi:10.1086/670850. ISSN   0022-2801.
18. Orsini, Alessandro (2011). Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists. Cornell University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN   978-0-8014-6139-2.
19. Orsini, Alessandro (15 April 2011). Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists. Cornell University Press. p. 67. ISBN   978-0-8014-6139-2.
20. Orsini, Alessandro (2 January 2023). "What Everybody Should Know about Radicalization and the DRIA Model". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 46 (1): 68–100. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2020.1738669 . ISSN   1057-610X. S2CID   216253010.
21. ""Il Mulino mi ha rifiutato per motivi ideologici"". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). 8 September 2010.
22. Dawson, Lorne L. (5 February 2021), Segal, Robert A.; Roubekas, Nickolas P. (eds.), "Terror and Violence" , The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (1 ed.), Wiley, p. 444, doi:10.1002/9781119092797.ch31, ISBN   978-1-119-09279-7, S2CID   234024766 , retrieved 6 July 2023
23. Orsini, Alessandro. "Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists – Abstract". ResearchGate. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
24. Panvini, Guido. "Alessandro Orsini - Anatomia delle Brigate rosse. Le radici ideologiche del terrorismo rivoluzionario – 2009" (in Italian). SISSCO . Retrieved 8 July 2023. Previously published in Various (2010). Il mestiere di storico (2010) vol. 2 (in Italian). Viella Libreria Editrice. p. 242. ISBN   978-88-8334-810-5.
25. Drake, Richard (Spring 2010). "Terrorism and the Decline of Italian Communism: Domestic and International Dimensions" . Cold War Studies . 12 (2): 110–116. doi:10.1162/jcws.2010.12.2.110. S2CID   57569294 . Retrieved 22 June 2023.
26. Bosworth, Richard (11 August 2011). "Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
27. Freedman, Lawrence (26 December 2011). "Best International Relations Books of 2011 | Foreign Affairs". Foreign Affairs . Retrieved 6 July 2023.
28. Bull, Anna Cento (January 2013). "Alessandro Orsini, Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists" . European History Quarterly. 43 (1): 168–169. doi:10.1177/0265691412469497ac. ISSN   0265-6914. S2CID   147666075.
29. Hof, Tobias (May 2013). "Alessandro Orsini, Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2011), 317 pp" . Cold War History . 13 (2): 286–287. doi:10.1080/14682745.2013.789665. ISSN   1468-2745. S2CID   154924645.
30. Shaffer, Ryan (April 2013). "Alessandro Orsini. Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists: Trans. Sarah Nodes. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011. 296 pp., $29.95 hardcover. ISBN: 978-0-80144986-4" . Terrorism and Political Violence. 25 (2): 346–348. doi:10.1080/09546553.2013.761862. ISSN   0954-6553. S2CID   142685812.
31. "Sandberg on Orsini, 'Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists' | H-War | H-Net". networks.h-net.org. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
32. Barry, Gearóid (November 2015). "Political Religion: A User's Guide" . Contemporary European History . 24 (4): 623–638. doi:10.1017/S0960777315000375. S2CID   151760951. ProQuest   1722481472 . Retrieved 22 June 2023.
33. Edwards, Phil (January 2013). "Alessandro Orsini: Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists. Trans. Sarah Nodes. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011. Pp. vi, 317.)" . The Review of Politics. 75 (1): 168–171. doi:10.1017/S0034670512001283. ISSN   0034-6705. S2CID   147301119.
34. Veugelers, John (2012). "Alessandro Orsini, "Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists". Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011, 317 pp". Sociologica (3/2012). doi:10.2383/72713. ISSN   1971-8853.
35. Herf, Jeffrey (Winter 2012). "Alessandro Orsini, Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists, trans. from Italian by Sarah J. Nodes" . Journal of Cold War Studies . 14 (1): 137–139. doi:10.1162/JCWS_r_00208. S2CID   57568887 . Retrieved 22 June 2023.
36. Smith, Paul J. (2012). "Review of Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists" . Perspectives on Politics. 10 (2): 464–465. doi:10.1017/S1537592711005160. ISSN   1537-5927. JSTOR   41479585. S2CID   145685063.
37. Hall, John R. (2013). "Review of Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists" . Contemporary Sociology. 42 (2): 265–266. doi:10.1177/0094306113477381ii. ISSN   0094-3061. JSTOR   23524885. S2CID   146170192.
38. Chaudhuri, Soma (1 June 2012). "Book Reviews: Alessandro Orsini. Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists. Translated from the Italian by Sarah J. Nodes. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011. $29.95 (hardcover)". Mobilization: An International Quarterly. 17 (2): 226–227 – via Allen Press.
39. Schmid, Alex P. (28 March 2014). "Comments on Marc Sageman's Polemic "The Stagnation in Terrorism Research"" . Terrorism and Political Violence. 26 (4): 587–595. doi:10.1080/09546553.2014.895651. ISSN   0954-6553. S2CID   144742859.
40. Hall, John R. (2013). "Review of Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-Set of Modern Terrorists" . Contemporary Sociology. 42 (2): 265–266. doi:10.1177/0094306113477381ii. ISSN   0094-3061. JSTOR   23524885. S2CID   146170192.
41. Bosworth, Richard (12 October 2017). "Sacrifice: My Life in a Fascist Militia, by Alessandro Orsini". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
42. Olivo, Christiane (2019). "Review of Sacrifice: My Life in a Fascist Militia". Journal of Political & Military Sociology. 46 (1): 265–267. ISSN   0047-2697. JSTOR   48599465.
43. Bernardo, João (January 2007). "L'Eretico della sinistra. Bruno Rizzi élitista democratico" . Historical Materialism . 15 (1): 209–222. doi:10.1163/156920607X171654.
44. Sarzanini, Monica Guerzoni e Fiorenza (6 May 2022). "Ecco la rete della propaganda di Putin in Italia: influencer e opinionisti, dai social ai giornali". Corriere della Sera (in Italian).
45. Feltri, Stefano (8 June 2022). "Chi difende i "putiniani" non ha capito come funziona la propaganda nell'era social". Domani (in Italian).
46. Urbinati, Nadia (25 March 2022). "La guerra in Ucraina avvelena anche il nostro dibattito pubblico, ridotto a lotta tra gladiatori". Domani (in Italian).
47. Ciro Cuozzo (22 April 2022). "Lo show di Orsini a Cartabianca tra fascismo e mamme di Mariupol, Anzaldi: "Siamo passati da Enzo Biagi a un opinionista sconosciuto"". Il Riformista (in Italian).
48. Jérôme Gautheret (28 May 2022). "War in Ukraine: pro-Russian propaganda at home on Italian television". Le Monde . Archived from the original on 7 June 2022.
49. "I nostri interessi. Pericolo per i militari italiani da Odessa: congelare il conflitto" [Our interests. Threats from Odessa to the Italian Servicemen: Freeze the conflict]. il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 5 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
50. "Ucraina, Orsini: "Pericolo da Odessa per soldati italiani". Ministero Difesa: "Non è vero"" [Ukraine, Orsini: "A danger from Odessa for Italian soldiers." Ministry of Defense: "This is not true"]. Adnkronos (in Italian). 5 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
51. "Difesa: Ministero smentisce categoricamente le false affermazioni del professor Alessandro Orsini" [The Defence Ministry categorically rejects Professor Alessandro Orsini's false claims]. Italian Ministry of Defence (in Italian). 5 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
52. Josephine Carinci (21 June 2023). "Orsini: "Moschee? Il governo vuole evitare la radicalizzazione"/ "Non verrà impedito di pregare"". Il Sussidiario.

External links

• Alessandro Orsini's channel on YouTube
• Alessandro Orsini at LUISS University
• Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists – Abstract and downloadable full-text PDF on ResearchGate