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From Pacifism To Pipe Bombs: A History Of The Extremist Anti-Abortion Movement In The United States, Stella Masucci

Senior Theses

This paper traces the history of the extremist wing of the anti-abortion movement, both the violent and non-violent branches, from its origins in the 1970s. The movement began with local, leftwing Catholic groups conducting “sit-ins,” then turned into a massive crusade of fundamentalist conservatives under Randall Terry’s group Operation Rescue. I also examine the movement’s descent into violence in the 1980s and 1990s and the federal government’s response to this threat, namely the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 1994, and how it has shaped both the pacifist and violent branches of the movement in the years since. …

Interpreting 9/11: Religious Or Political Event?, Fadime Apaydin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism or violence can be triggered by a variety of circumstances, including the religious, cultural, political, or economic conditions of the social environment, as well as the perpetrator’s personal characteristics. However, studies conducted in the aftermath of 9/11 have largely described the attacks as religious events, arguing that religion inherently causes violence or that religion is the main motivation for violence. The primary argument for the approach adopted by such studies is that secular institutions are inclined to be less violent than religious ones. A second approach, on the other hand, fundamentally opposes the arguments that led to describing the …

Destabilizing Terrorist Networks, John Keane

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

Terrorism is a threat to global security and instills fear in the lives of people across the world. Over the past decades, billions in \$USD have been invested in counter-terrorism efforts. One approach to counter-terrorism is to destabilize terrorist organizations such that they are less effective at carrying out attacks. Previous work has investigated how to best proceed in this direction, such as which terrorists to target. Terrorist organizations have also been modeled as networks, where nodes can represent factions and/or terrorists. Research has been done to understand the network dynamics and link the structure of such networks to their …

A Conscious Image Of Liberation: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Eta) In The Late Franco Regime, Through The Lens Of The Press, Sebastian De Lasa

Honors Projects

The rise of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in the early 1970s coincided with the rise of national liberation movements across Europe, which largely were inspired by notable examples of resistance throughout the Global South in the decades prior. ETA’s growth over this period, and in the years prior, was heavily dependent on the image created of the organziation in the local, domestic, and international press, including through documents distributed by the group itself. By comparing ETA’s external presence to the group’s internal strife, it becomes clear that ETA made efforts to align itself with the popular revolutionary language of the …

Terrorism Preparedness, Collaboration, And Organizational Culture In The National Capital Region, Anderson Percival Padmore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Terrorism preparedness is essential for federal, state, and local governments. However, literature indicated that local governments may not be ready to respond to a terrorist event. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine terrorism preparedness levels related to collaboration in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the United States to determine first responders’ perspectives regarding challenges of organizational change. The research questions for this study concentrated on the evaluation of terrorism- preparedness and organizational changes among first response agencies since 2014, Schein’s ideas of organizational cultural change were the theoretical foundation. Four NCR public safety agencies were …

Applying Situational Crime Prevention To Terrorism Against Stadiums, Emanuel Maurice Yeoman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to recent studies, there has been increasing concern of terrorist threats to U.S. stadiums. The research problem is that existing U.S. stadium policies, procedures, and plans do not adequately address evacuation of special populations in the event of a terrorist threat. There is a particular concern regarding the adequacy of existing stadium evacuation plans for patrons with special needs. In the current study there were three research questions examining the organizational deficiencies and best practices of stadium evacuation plans currently in place to respond to terrorist threats How situational crime prevention (SCP) can help in the identification of deficiencies …

Nonreligious Explanations Of Boko Haram’S Resilience In Nigeria, Jimmy Imo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past decade, Boko Haram has become one of the world’s deadliest terror organizations. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore nonreligious explanations for the problem of resilience of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Rational choice theory provided the primary framework for the study. Data were collected through in-person and telephone interviews with 14 religious and government subject matter experts. Other sources of data included media publications, documents, audio-visual materials, and the internet. Data were inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. Findings showed that instead of religious ideology, Boko Haram’s resilience was due to poor policy …

Criminal Liabilities Of Boko Haram In Nigeria, Dilibe Eche

Theses and Dissertations

One major problem that has posed a great threat to the Nigerian Nation is Boko Haram or rather the Boko Haram militant group.

What this paper intends to do is to analyze the criminal liabilities of the Boko Haram militant group in Nigeria in both domestic and international law.

I see this paper primarily as timely because a lot has been said about Boko Haram, in Nigeria, but yet there is much we still do not know about Boko Haram, its criminal liabilities, origin structure, size and method of operation still remains a mirage and a mystery. This dissertation will …

Usafricom: An Analysis Of The United States Africa Command And The Forces That Legitimize And Justify Us Military Presence In Africa, Alexis Osifo

Scripps Senior Theses

This essay analyzes the United States of America’s military presence on the African continent through the US Africa Command or AFRICOM. I hope to contextualize the creation of AFRICOM by outlining the events and reasonings for establishing the military command center. Moreover, I analyze the discourses of humanitarianism and securitization on the African continent and the producers and distributors of such ideological discourses in academia, media, government and private corporations. While situating these discourses within a larger framework of colonial and imperial ventures, I plan on investigating how such ideological narratives work to legitimize and preempt military operations and presence …

Terrorism Preparedness, Collaboration, And Organizational Culture In The National Capital Region, Anderson Percival Padmore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Terrorism preparedness is essential for federal, state, and local governments. However, literature indicated that local governments may not be ready to respond to a terrorist event. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine terrorism preparedness levels related to collaboration in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the United States to determine first responders’ perspectives regarding challenges of organizational change. The research questions for this study concentrated on the evaluation of terrorism- preparedness and organizational changes among first response agencies since 2014, Schein’s ideas of organizational cultural change were the theoretical foundation. Four NCR public safety agencies were …

The Leveling Spirit: Violence And Inequality In Postwar Iraq, Griffin Perrault

Honors Theses

The Iraq War (2003–2011) constitutes by some estimates one of the deadliest and most destructive conflicts of the 21st century (Hagopian et al., 2013). In addition to the disputed figures of excess violent civilian casualties––generally ranging from 180,000 to 210,000 deaths––the war has created one of the major refugee crises of modern times, with 1 in 25 Iraqis estimated to have been displaced from their homes by the 2003 invasion (Costs of War, 2021). While much of this violence has been wrought by American and Iraqi coalition troops, violence against civilians has also been perpetuated by insurgent groups and paramilitary …

Analysis Of Non-Conventional Radiological Terrorism, James N. Padgett

Theses and Dissertations

Nuclear terrorism has been a risk since the dawn of the first atomic bomb. Though state sponsored nuclear weapons development is of concern for countries, non-state sponsored terrorism with radiological material can be of even greater concern. This stems from the fact that the material is under less stringent or no safeguards and can readily change hands between different terrorist groups or innocent civilians may accidently come into contact with the material.

Within this paper an analysis of previous accidents using orphan radiological sources, malicious use of orphan radiological sources, and how these sources could be used by terrorists is …

Exploring Cyberterrorism, Topic Models And Social Networks Of Jihadists Dark Web Forums: A Computational Social Science Approach, Vivian Fiona Guetler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This three-article dissertation focuses on cyber-related topics on terrorist groups, specifically Jihadists’ use of technology, the application of natural language processing, and social networks in analyzing text data derived from terrorists' Dark Web forums. The first article explores cybercrime and cyberterrorism. As technology progresses, it facilitates new forms of behavior, including tech-related crimes known as cybercrime and cyberterrorism. In this article, I provide an analysis of the problems of cybercrime and cyberterrorism within the field of criminology by reviewing existing literature focusing on (a) the issues in defining terrorism, cybercrime, and cyberterrorism, (b) ways that cybercriminals commit a crime in …

War Tourism: A New Brand Of Foreign Fighter, Scott Mowat

CMC Senior Theses

Private citizens engaging in foreign conflicts have garnered increasing media and scholarly attention in the past couple of decades. Conflicts around the world have drawn the attention of private citizens seeking to actively participate for many reasons. However, most academic analysis of foreign fighters or volunteers has focused explicitly on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) or individuals joining extremist or terrorist groups. No comprehensive study has focused on the motivations and reasoning of war tourists or foreign fighters joining non-terrorist organizations. This thesis explores the under-analyzed cross-section of foreign fighters participating in war zones, mainly focusing on fighters joining organizations not …

'We Want Women?': An Examination Of Female Political Leadership During National Public Health Crises, Kelsi Rae Quick

Political Science Theses

While crises of terrorism have often prompted preference for male leadership, COVID-19 poses an ideal situation for examining the impact of gender stereotypes on executive approval in a new type of crisis tied to public health, seen as more of a ‘woman’s domain.’ Employing a survey experiment to examine public perception of male and female political leadership during different types of hypothetical national crises (terrorism v. highly contagious virus), this study ultimately finds that there is not a significant difference in average approval ratings between male and female executives in the virus crisis context, and a small difference with females …

The Political And Criminological Conspiracy Of Terrosism: A Case Study Of Nigeria, Cajetan Chidi Ihe

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Nigeria has recently witnessed the repeated prevalence of a fog of terror that has threatened the stability, peace, and sovereignty of the nation. While the world's attention focuses on Afghanistan, Iraq, and bombings in embassies around the Western world, shocking terrorist activities with immeasurably devastating impacts are regularly ignored by the Nigerian government and the international community. Since 1970, Nigeria has continued to experience repeated domestic attacks entrenched in different forms of tensions and motivations. The Global Terrorism Index (2019) ranked Nigeria as the third most terrorized country in the world, behind only Iraq and Afghanistan with 1,634 attacks, 16,108 …

Effects Of Military And Economic Aid On Terrorism: A Long- And Short-Term Analysis, Haley Parker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper asks whether U.S. aid reduces terrorism. Foreign assistance may be of two types: socio-economic aid (aims to address the root causes of terrorism by improving health care, education, justice systems, infrastructure, etc. in the recipient country) and military aid (designed to fight terrorism with force and manifests as military operations in a recipient country). Most countries receive both military aid and socio-economic US aid for long spells of time. This is why this research asks: 1) how economic and military types of aid influence terrorism over time, and 2) whether and how economic aid and military types of …

The Affect Of Globalization On Terrorism, Philip R. Passante

Master's Theses

This thesis proposal will dive into the concept of terrorism and how it is an act of force and has proven to be detrimental to the modern world. In addition, this thesis will analyze the concept of terrorism as well as the rationale behind it. It is important to understand and study this as terrorism is a complex entity made up of different themes. The concentration of this thesis will highlight how globalization has affected the phenomena of terrorism in the past, present, and ultimately the future. Globalization and terrorism have a relationship that many scholars and researchers have noticed. …

Terrorism And Counter-Terrorism: A Game Theoretic Approach., Aditya Bhan Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Microeconomic concepts are often applied to analyze the phenomenon of terrorism, and gametheoretic frameworks are commonly applied throughout the existing literature. This is unsurprising, since real-world scenarios involving strategic interactions are best formulated using game theory because such formulations not only provide deep insights into the web of incentives and disincentives within which each player operates and consequent predictive paradigms, but also enable the creation of policy architectures based on anticipation of players‟ actions and/or alteration of players‟ incentives/disincentives to encourage/discourage certain behavioural outcomes. This thesis also applies game-theoretic frameworks to analyze some issues within the domain of terrorism and …

Democratization And Extremism: The Case Of Tunisia, Mariam Abdelaty

Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism has become a real security threat for nearly every country in the world. Despite of the declaration and adoption of several procedures to fight terrorism and its perpetrators, countries have not yet succeeded to control the huge numbers of recruits being mobilized by terrorist organizations.[1] The literature has covered several factors that make recruits vulnerable and easily mobilized and radicalized by terrorist organizations, among which is the suppression of civil and political rights in non-democratic countries, as well as weak political institutions.[2] Among the Arab world countries, it has been puzzling to find out that despite of …

Gender Inequality And Terrorism: The Impacts Of Female Empowerment On Domestic And Transnational Terrorism, Jennifer Dumas

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the post-9/11 years, terrorism has emerged as an urgent issue with important national security and foreign policy ramifications. Within political science, terrorism research has likewise developed as a burgeoning subfield with the potential for significant contributions to policymaking worldwide. However, the literature has until recently generally neglected gender inequality as a structural antecedent to terrorism, despite studies which support a relationship between gender parity and conflict mitigation in other areas as well as increasing calls for the integration of gender measures into counterterrorism agendas and initiatives among scholars and policymakers. To address this gap in the literature, I introduce …

Fear And Loathing: Understanding Risk Perception For Terrorism And Its Relationship With Islamophobia, Daniel W. Snook

Psychology Dissertations

Americans tend to have strong psychological responses to terrorism (e.g., fear, anxiety) even though terrorism poses a very low objective risk of injury or death. Unfortunately, this is exactly what terrorists hope to cause. Terrorism is one of Americans’ top fears and more than 40% of Americans worry that they will be victims of terrorism (Gallup, 2017a). Additionally, since Muslims are commonly blamed for and associated with terrorism in the US, Islamophobia, or the unreasonable fear of Islam and Muslims, is a common response to terrorism. Terrorism-driven Islamophobia even manifests as hate speech against Muslims, hate crimes against Muslims, and …

Extreme Far-Right Murder-Suicide Attacks In The U.S. And Germany: A Comparative Storyline Analysis, Hayden Lucas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite increasing empirical research on suicide terrorism since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, prior studies have focused primarily on radical Islamic terrorism in non-Western contexts. As a result, less is known about how murder-suicide attacks committed by other ideological movements unfold, particularly the extreme far-right in North America and Europe. Researchers have begun to theorize the social and psychological processes believed to play a role in the radicalization of suicide terrorists. However, the observable, situational processes shaping radicalized individuals when planning, preparing for, and executing suicide terrorism remain underexplored. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify intervention points by …

China, Xinjiang, And The Genocide Convention: The Fragility Of International Law, Lucy Kate Herron

Honors Theses

This paper examines China’s actions through the lens of the Genocide Convention to examine the whether the crimes of genocide are being committed against the Uyghur population. It contends that according to the Genocide Convention, China is committing genocide, and particularly through conditions, torture, and rape, against the Uyghur population. However, prosecuting a genocide in court would prove difficult due to China's laws and actions that can be used to defer accusations of genocide and problems with the Genocide Convention in the context of China and the Uyghurs.

Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of …

An Examination Of Government Involvement In Property & Casualty Insurance, Samuel Spencer

Senior Theses and Projects

For decades, both state and federal governments have taken a larger role in the property and casualty market. The National Flood Insurance Plan directly writes policies. In contrast, the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirement establishes a last-resort insurance pool for those unable to find certain types of coverage through conventional means. Finally, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act establishes a federal reinsurance backstop in the event of a severe terror loss. While each program seeks to expand property and casualty coverage, some have been more successful than others. This thesis examines the efficacy of each program and provides reform suggestions.

The Use Of Counter Narratives As A Prevention And Countering Violent Extremism (P/Cve) Communications-Based Measure: A Study Of Muslim-American Undergraduate Students In Universities And Colleges In California, Mohamed Ahmed

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts on countering violent extremism and radicalization. This research study measured attitudes towards violent extremist groups and the appeal of violent extremist ideologies among Muslim-American undergraduate students in universities and colleges in California. The target sample group for the study was drawn from Muslim-American undergraduate students from a university and community college within the state. The sample constituted 20 participants, comprised of four focus groups with 5 student respondents each. The researcher used the nomination process to identify participants from the target population. As part of the study’s methodology, a counter-narrative …

Do The Tactics Of Armed Groups Affect Organizational Behavior? The Case Of Kidnap For Ransom, Tyler Young

Theses and Dissertations

N/A

Roundabout - How The United States Government Creates Cyclical Terrorism As It Responds To Domestic And Foreign Terrorism, Sarah Selch Andrews

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism is frequently studied as a linear transaction between actors, usually a government and one or more extremists of some sort, be they individuals or groups. The focus in this thesis is on the United States government and international jihadist extremists, specifically Al-Qaeda, a conflict which often is covered in one of two ways: extremist action is the provocation and government policy (up to and including military engagement) is the reaction, or alternatively, foreign policy is the initiating action and what we call "terrorism" is merely a response.

This paper argues that neither approach is sufficient and proposes a model …

Examining Terrorism Attacks And Regional Preparedness In The United States, Trebor Curtis Yocum

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government renewed efforts to prepare for future attacks. Despite research on federal and state government preparedness, there was a lack of scholarship on trends in terrorist attacks at the local level. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to examine trends in terrorism attacks in the United States between 2001 and 2018 and determine whether significance exists between characteristics of the terrorism incidents (weapon used, target type) and region. The conceptual framework included Grundmann’s risk management and Tomuzia et al.’s risk assessment scenario models. Answering the research questions entailed examining trends in …