The dynamics of radicalization : a relational and comparative perspective The book comparatively investigates the processes of radicalization focusing on questions of how and when such processes unfold rather than on why they happen in the first place. Alimi Bosi and Demetriou argue that processes of radicalization develop primarily through the interplay of three specific mechanisms: competition for power among movement actors; threat opportunity spirals between the movement and its political environment; and outbidding between movement actors and state security forces. Each arena or mechanism affects and is affected by the other two creating a multilayered pathway of radicalization. Using the most different case logic the authors argue their theory through three case studies: the Red Brigades in Italy (1968 1980) the Greek Cypriot Enosis EOKA (1945 1960) and the Al Qaeda Sunni led Salafi Transnational Jihad Movement (1984 2001). Without losing sight of the significant differences between the cases or of the way in which they influence the particular sequence of the process the book provides an empirically proven and widely applicable analytic framework for understanding how political processes and different contexts drive radicalization