Mauro Lubrano joined PoLIS as a Lecturer in International Relations in 2022 after earning his PhD from the University of St Andrews. His research revolves primarily around terrorism and political violence. In this PhD thesis and more recent works, he examined processes of terrorist innovation, seeking to understand the rationale and dynamics of operational and strategic changes in terrorist organisations.

His first book, Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism (Polity 2025) explores the growing phenomenon of anti-technology extremism and argues that, while currently on the fringes of extremist milieus such as insurrectionary anarchism, eco-extremism, and eco-fascism, it has the potential to become a major driver of political violence.

His most recent project has embarked on a systematic analysis of organisational dynamics in horizontal and ‘leaderless’ terrorist networks, looking at how ‘informal’ leaders manage to provide operational guidance and inspiration in decentralised settings.

His work has been published in multiple leading journals, including Terrorism and Political Violence, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, and Perspectives on Terrorism, and he has collaborated with several think tanks and public institutions across Europe and the USA.