ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on one common field of research, namely non-state actors in international security. It then discussed the difficulties in defining 'terrorism' and 'terrorists' and the profound and lasting consequences for the overall research project of conceptual decisions made at the outset. The book presents a narrative analysis of the discourse in the British media on the rebellion and revolution in Libya in 2011 and shows that this type of analysis helps us understand how certain definitions of non-state security actors become dominant whereas others are marginalized. It introduces a study involving a contract between the Swedish Foreign Ministry and a PMSC to demonstrate how semi-structured interviews with state officials and representatives of the private security industry can complement thematic (content) analysis in order to obtain information that cannot be found in the official documents published by these actors.
