Silvia Carenzi is a PhD candidate in Transnational Governance, a program jointly offered by Scuola Normale Superiore and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. Her research interests are focused on militant Islamism in Europe and in the MENA region. In particular, her doctoral project aims to examine the political preferences of jihadist groups in Syria and Libya through a Social Movement Studies framework, to understand why they opt for local- and/or global-oriented strategies.

Silvia holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages applied to International Relations (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan). Before joining Scuola Normale Superiore, she worked as a researcher at the Center on Radicalization and International Terrorism, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), where she conducted research on foreign fighters, jihadist radicalization and recruitment in Europe, as well as Islamist actors in the MENA countries.

Research interests: militant islamism, political violence in Europre and in the MENA region, and non-state actors in the MENA region