Christine Sixta Rinehart - Sexual Jihad: The Role of Islam in Female Terrorism

Christine Sixta Rinehart is an associate professor of political science at the University of South Carolina Palmetto College. She earned her PhD from the University of South Carolina in 2008. Her research interests include international terrorism, female terrorism, and security and counterterrorism. Her first book Volatile Social Movements and the Origins of Terrorism: The Radicalization of Change was published in December 2012 by Lexington Books. Her second book, Drones and Targeted Killing in the Middle East and Africa: An Appraisal of American Counterterrorism Policies was published by Lexington Books in December 2016.

Writing a book requires a village and my village has been very supportive and helpful. My first debt of gratitude belongs to the University of South Carolina Union Campus. The Research and Productive Scholarship grant that I received for summer 2017 to interview convicted female terrorists in an Israeli prison was immensely helpful in adding some reality to this theory. I wish to thank the campus dean for creating a scholarship grant for faculty. I also want to personally thank him for his support of my research and the time he has spent reading everything I have ever published under his tenure. In addition, I wish to thank my two undergraduate research assistants for their editing and opinions concerning the book. Dawn and Bryana, you are fabulous!

Another debt of gratitude belongs to the people who helped me with Israel. A special thanks to the man who got me into the Israeli prison in two weeks, doing what political representatives could not accomplish at allyou know who you are. I also wish to thank the Israelis who helped to set up my interviews in Israel, including the Israeli Prison Services and academics at various universities who assisted me, including the University of South Carolina. I regret that you shall remain nameless but I am grateful for all of you. I also wish to thank my editor and the staff at Lexington Books, who are excellent to work with and are highly competent. Even after three books with Lexington, and different staff each time, you are all still wonderful to work with! Volatile Social Movements and the Origins of Terrorism: The Radicalization of Change was first published in 2014 and Drones and Targeted Killing in the Middle East and Africa: An Appraisal of American Counterterrorism Policies was first published in 2016.

I also want to thank my translator in Israel, who is simply amazing in one word and I find you inspirational. I hope and pray that you fulfill every potential that you have inside you for you are certainly a diamond in the rough.

I also wish to thank my reviewer for the time and effort he put into reviewing this manuscript: I must confess that I did not take every suggestion to heart and that the errors that I make are my own responsibility.

Lastly, my largest debt of gratitude is for my husband who was my chauffeur and handler in Israel and who has always given me tremendous support in all my endeavors.

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