Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 Leadership & Workforce Development 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

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 …

Terrorism And Social Media: Extremist Groups And College Student Recruitment, Marion Donald Bell Iii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

College students are particularly vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist organizations. Social media is the primary tool used by extremist groups to target college students. This research was conducted to examine the extent to which college students are affected by extremist groups on social media. A qualitative research design was implemented to collect data from a diverse group of college students. Participants consisted of five experts in homeland security or law enforcement and 12 individuals who were students or recent graduates in fields related to law enforcement and homeland security. Social learning theory provided the theoretical foundation for this research. Results …

Canadian Prosecutors’ Views On The Use Of Capital Punishment For Defined Terrorist Activity, Aswani Datt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the post-9/11 world, Canada has struggled with developing a sentencing regime that effectively punishes and deters defined terrorist activity such as the attack on the Canadian Parliament, the Danforth shootings, the rise of Khalistani and Islamic terrorism, and the Toronto Van Attack. Broadly speaking, the Canadian public still supports capital punishment, but it is unclear whether Canadian prosecutors perceive and view the issue in the same light in their professional and legal capacity. Canadian prosecutors are tasked with seeking sentences that meet criminal justice principles, including the principle of deterrence. Their views on what punishments are just and effective …

Socially Constructed Journalism And Lone Wolf Terrorists - A New York City Experience, Adrienne Pascal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractJournalistic reporting normalized radical lone wolf terrorist activities compromising public and national safety. The purpose of this research was to explore news reports of four radical lone wolf events that occurred in New York City (NYC) between 2010 and 2017 to identify political slant toward societal normalization of radical lone wolf behavior. The framework of this phenomenological study was Borum’s four-stage pathway mindset model of terrorism combined with Berger and Luckmann’s social construction theory. The central research question addressed how socially constructed journalism stories of lone wolf terrorist events in NYC aligned with liberal to conservative political newsprint continuums. Data …

Transnational Threats To Maritime Systems And Seaport Security, Eric L. Hampton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An assessment of a 16-year period since the 9/11 attacks indicated that more than 14,000 security breaches in which security measures at seaports were circumvented due to vulnerabilities occurred and more than 24,000 suspicious activity reports were made. The susceptibility of United States’ seaports to groups engaged in criminal activities, including drug trafficking, cargo theft, and smuggling of contraband and people undermines security practices and renders the nation vulnerable to acts of terrorism. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore seaport security measures to identify and understand internal and external factors that may impact protection practices at U.S. …

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 …

A Case Of Mistaken (Ethnic) Identity: Rethinking Civil War Duration, Ethnic Saliency, Terrorism, And The Real Factors Discouraging Resolution, Angie Bittar

Senior Independent Study Theses

The field of political violence has consistently emphasized understanding the way that civil wars end, with less emphasis placed on the circumstances which elicit extended civil war duration. This analysis shifts the focus of study on to the internal factors of civil war, following the question: What are the domestic factors of civil war that cause some wars to be more durable and resistant to resolution than others? Building off of several prominent theories within the field of political violence and the anthropological study of ethnic saliency, I hypothesize that civil wars that are characterized as identity based will be …

Women And Violence In Revolutionary Russia, 1860-1925, Jenny R. Findsen

All Master's Theses

Russian women engaged in public violence during the late imperial and revolutionary periods in various ways and for a variety of reasons. This study examines traditional gender roles in Russia, and women’s motivations for female terrorism as well as military and police service. It establishes that women broke through patriarchal social barriers through violence, even while still embracing traditionally feminine notions of self-sacrifice for the common good. Based on primary sources such as memoirs, official policies, and newspaper articles, I argue that Russian women committed both illegal and officially sanctioned violence to achieve diverse personal, ideological, political, material, and familial …

Media And Terrorism: A Case Study Of Western Media Coverage Of The Syrian Conflict And Terrorism-Related Events In Syria From 2011 To 2018, Ali Rabea

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This thesis focuses on mainstream western media distortion and propaganda in relation to reporting of the Syrian conflict, the motives and actions of its protagonists, and the conflict's major events and outcomes. It does this by examining coverage of key events by the widely respected New York Times from March 15^th, 2011 to December 31^st, 2018. This thesis also compares aspects of this coverage with reporting by The Independent on the 2016 military operations in East Aleppo and the 2017 military operations in Al-Raqqa. By utilizing the Propaganda Model in relation to Framing Theory, this thesis …

Analyzing Media Of Isis, The Taliban, And Al-Qaeda: Use Of Cinematographic Techniques In Retributive Justice Videos, Matthew P. Mottet

Political Science Theses

Major extremist organizations such as the Taliban, the Islamic State in al-Sham and Iraq, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula utilize the internet to disseminate media products such as videos that promote the group’s messages to a specific audience and craft self-images. This study analyzes the videos produced by these groups that contain themes of retributive justice through a novel lens: cinematographic techniques. This study analyzes the following questions: What are some common cinematographic techniques used by these groups? What are the systematic similarities and differences between the techniques employed, and what does this say about the audience and the …

American Media Depiction Of Terrorism In The U.S After September 11 Attacks, Maria Thuy Trinh

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze perceptions of terrorism through the analysis of two newspapers’ news coverage of terrorism after the September 11 attacks, a popular Kentucky newspaper, the Courier-Journal and the New York Times (NYT). The social construction of terrorism was reflected as a problem through moral panics or something that a society believed as wrong that needed to be eradicated. Previous research had found that newspapers have contributed to moral panics by exaggerating the scope of social problems such as school shootings. I used the theoretical framework of moral panics; Goode and Ben-Yehuda’s (2009) two criteria …

Impact Of The “War On Terrorism” On Development Of International Criminal Law, Ayser Alhelme

Theses and Dissertations

This research elucidates international terrorism by reviewing the stages of sociological analysis of terrorism, and by analyzing its theoretical framework. This research traces the historical development of the prevailing uncertainty by which it is characterized. Implications on global security leads us to study international legal development to counter international terrorism that has engulfed entire human societies. The objectives include highlighting international terrorism, and the counter-terrorism measures on part of the international community as it develops international criminal law to handle the problem.

Good For Whom? The Framing Of Conflict In Post-9/11 America, 2001-2004, Joseph Antony Cook

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis explores the framing of conflict after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and more specifically, during President George W. Bush’s first term in office. Notions of American exceptionalism touched upon every facet of the nation’s response to the attacks, providing guidance, identity and resolve in the history of the Good War. The immediate tethering of Pearl Harbor and September 11 in the national discourse exemplified the foremost role that nostalgia would play in not only making sense of the attacks but devising a response to them. This thesis recovers what was lost to those destructive comforts in the …

Far-Right Extremism In America: A Geospatial Analysis Of Incident Distribution, Meredith Leann Lerma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There has been little empirical research on the spatial relationship of violent far-right extremism. Previous studies have only focused on portions of far-right violent incidents, such as homicides, or amalgamated all far-right extremist activity, including legal incidents. This study uses data from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in a temporal frame of 2000 to 2018 to test the relationship of violent incidents against geographic and social factors. The goal is to explore the relationships between macro-level factors and violent far-right extremist incident. The research determines that the presence of hate groups, higher immigrant populations, …

Behavioral Aspects In Operational Decisions. Applied Factor Investigations On The Micro (Individual) And Meso (Cluster) Levels, Lyudmyla Starostyuk

Information Systems & Operations Management Dissertations

Normative theoretical models in operations management have been widely utilized by businesses and scientists to explain multiple phenomena. They assume that operating systems are managed by fully rational decision-makers who always choose the most profitable solution. However, decision-makers are human beings with behavioral and cognitive biases which influence their choices. In this thesis we argue that a change in the social and operating environments explains the choice deviation from the normative theoretical predictions. We present three independent studies of behavioral patterns on the individual and cluster levels. In the first study we observe the effect of human faces on the …

An Analysis Of Women And Terrorism: Perpetrators, Victims, Both?, Elizabeth Lauren Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper will analyze women’s participation in terrorism under groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. It will research the use of violence within terrorist organizations, perpetrated by female participants. What leads women to join groups like the Islamic State? There will be an analysis of the factors that attract women to joining terrorist organizations, in addition to the practices of recruitment that aid in their radicalization. There is a misconception that women who join the Islamic State lack education, which is seen as the sole reasoning for their radicalization or involvement. In reality, several reasons exist leading to their …

"The Aftermath Of Terrorism: The Islamophobic Rhetoric Of Donald Trump And Narendra Modi", Joshua Jonathan Somrah

Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to compare the Islamophobic rhetoric of Trump after the 2015 San Bernardino Attack and the 2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting with the Islamophobic rhetoric of Modi after the 2016 Uri Attack and the 2019 Pulwama Attack and to analyze how the Anti-Muslim rhetoric of Trump and Modi affected the lives of Muslims within their countries and abroad. I argue that Trump and Modi used Anti-Muslim language in the wake of the four terrorist attacks mentioned above for their own political agendas, which resulted in Anti-Muslim political decisions that affected the lives of many Muslims within …

Video Content Analysis Of The Taliban, Isis, And Al-Qa'ida: Common Themes And The Utilization Of Different Sonic Modes, Umniah H. Al Bayati

Political Science Theses

Terrorist organizations, such as the Taliban, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, produce videos to disseminate their messages. Even though there are many studies closely examining the text in jihadi videos, there are fewer studies that examine multimodal messages, specifically the audiovisual messages. This study aims to examine the audiovisual messages in videos produced by three jihadi groups: the Taliban, ISIS, and AQAP. This research attempts to answer the following strategic questions. One, what are some common themes in propaganda videos produced by the Taliban, ISIS, and al-Qa’ida? Two, how does each group …

Dramatic Example: Spectacle, Theatricality, And Performance In Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, Patrick Joseph Caoile

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The political implications of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy have been noted by many scholars and commentaries, the majority of whom view the trilogy specifically through the lens of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. As Jacques Derrida notes about 9/11, the “maximum media coverage . . . spectacularize[d] the event” (qtd. in Stubblefield 3). In Nolan’s trilogy, Batman’s crusade to save Gotham from its criminals and villains takes on similarly spectacular qualities, as Gotham City becomes “ground zero” for acts of terrorism, vigilantism, and theatricality. Rather than engaging in a strictly political analysis of these films, this thesis …

Piety And Mayhem: How Extremist Groups Misuse Religious Doctrine To Condone Violence And Achieve Political Goals, Noah Garber

Religious Studies Honors Papers

This thesis examines the way in which various groups have used religion as a justification for violent action towards political ends. From the Irgun, which carried out terrorist acts in Palestine, to the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, which has waged war on Israel, to the Buddhist leadership of Myanmar, which has waged a genocidal campaign against Rohingya Muslims living in the country, these groups have employed a narrow interpretation of their religious texts as a means to justify the actions they take. It is explained that it is not the compulsion of religious doctrine itself that is to blame, rather, …

Why There Should Be A Law Against Us Domestic Terrorism, Luis Maldonado

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My capstone analyzes why there should be a law against US Domestic Terrorism, just like there is against International terrorism: I focus on three different concepts including race, media, and the way law enforcement conducts their investigations. I use a variety of case studies as I am not just focused on one specifically. Through my findings I am able to distinguish between the treatment of International Terrorists and what many would consider Domestic Terrorists. Show that what they both do is very similar and be combated the same from a legal standpoint.

Asymmetric Threats: Analyzing The Future Of Nuclear Terrorism & Cyber Attacks; The Value Of Deterrence Theory For Addressing The Challenges Of Nuclear Terrorism In The Age Of 21st Century Cybersecurity, Oliver Demmert-Shelfo

Political Science & International Studies | Senior Theses

Given the rapid development and ease of access to technology, the threat of extremist organizations utilizing cyberspace as a means to target critical American strategic infrastructure is of increasing concern. The risk posed by the acquisition of fissile material, sabotage, or use of a nuclear device by an extremist organization has been exasperated due to technological development outpacing strategy. Despite policy-makers’ attempts to protect the public from cyber-attacks and nuclear terrorism, the federal policies in place have failed to account for the continual evolution of technology and the gaps in security that this advancement brings. Through examining documents from congressional …