Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Unemployment And Lack Of Education In Kenya On Al-Shabab Recruitment, Michael Hernandez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractResearch on terrorism in Kenya often involved a separation of concepts contributing to the issue of terrorism. Researchers have focused on Al-Shabab and demonstrated that political and military instability directly resulted from terrorism; however, researchers have not yet been able to establish a link between unemployment and Al-Shabab recruitment. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to understand Al-Shabab recruitment among male Kenyan young adults between the ages of 18-35. This study used social constructive framework (SCF) as a conceptual point of theory to analyze Al-Shabab recruitment and why some Kenyan young adults do while others do not join the …

The Impacts Of Open Grazing On The People Of Anambra South Senatorial Zone, Ephraim Izundu Udeagbala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOpen grazing is a main issue in Nigeria today, as Fulani herdsmen take farms by force with weapons like AK47s, which also affects the farmers of Anambra South Senatorial Zone. Further, there are different views on what open grazing is, which takes focus off its impacts that are detrimental to the people of the area. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the impacts of open grazing on the farmers of Anambra South Senatorial Zone. The research question aligned with the purpose of the study and examined the impacts of open grazing on the farmers of Anambra South …

Exploring Contemporary Counterterrorism And Perspectives Of Terrorism Experts To Combat Boko Haram, Enyinaya Njoku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Within the last decade, the terrorist attacks by Boko Haram have been the topic of considerable scholarly focus; yet, there remains a lack of knowledge and understanding about the causes of failure in counterterrorism measures by the Nigerian government in Borno State. Using Wilner’s contemporary deterrence theory as the foundation, the purpose of this case study of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) was to bridge the gap in knowledge to understand the causes of failure in counterterrorism measures by the Nigerian government and to explore alternate approaches to the counterterrorism efforts in Borno State to deter Boko Haram. Data were …

Middle Eastern And Western Leaders Speeches On Counterterrorism, Ranya Eid

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research analyzes political leaders' response to the ideological challenge presented by ISIS and Al Qaeda. It focuses on the counterterrorism speeches given by political leaders in a number of Middle Eastern countries and the United States. The analysis of the speeches is along two dimensions: the nature of their domestic and international audiences, and the motivations behind the speeches. A sample of several dozens of speeches is analyzed. The empirical study had proved that leaders mostly exhibit differences depending on their audiences to reach a certain political goal. While leaders tend to call for unification among countries in their …

Counterterrorism Investigator Perceptions: Homegrown Violent Extremists With Mental Illness, Jeffery Brandon Perez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Terrorism endures throughout the world. Some individuals who engage in it may suffer from a cognitive disorder. For those who investigate terrorism, preconceptions exist both toward extremists and toward people with mental illness (MI). A review of the literature has shown how counterterrorism (CT) investigators perceive terrorists’ motivations, and how law enforcement perceives people with MI. In filling a gap between the two, this study aimed to research whether based on their lived experiences, do the understandings, perceptions, and attitudes of CT agents inform their biases and influence their decision-making and ultimately investigations of homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) with MI. …

A Contemporary Tale Of Two Countries - State Of Children In India And Pakistan, Arijit Ray

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Some common economic problems of the Indian subcontinent are its low per-capita income, major dependence on agriculture, heavy population pressure, chronic unemployment, slow capital formation, limited opportunity for human capital development, rising pollution, and heavy inequality in the wealth distribution. Each of these problems affects its children in its unique way, both directly and indirectly. However, some problems are human-made which directly affect its own existence. I focus on two countries in the Indian subcontinent: India and Pakistan, where such problems exist. In both societies, female children are valued less than male children, a common theme across many other countries …

Counterterrorism: The G5 Response Efforts To Combat Terrorism In The Sahel Region, Ndeye Fatou Ndiaye

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract

Africa’s Sahel suffers from multidimensional challenges that require robust solutions to address the issues. The regional crisis is aggravated by multiple factors that include climate risks, poverty, unemployment, water shortages, weak governance, lack of rule of law, food security to cite a few. Thus, a combination of factors greatly contribute to the Sahel crisis, resulting in severe security threats. This study attempts to analyze the role of the G5 Sahel states and the international community in counter-terrorism efforts. However, the region has emerged as the new battleground for terrorism along with a growing threat of violent extremism and other …

A Threat Assessment Of Radicalized Extremist Right-Wing White Nationalist Subcultures In Canada: A Social Media Analysis, Dylon Groom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As literature and media findings suggest, right-wing extremism has been a growing threat to the security of Canada. This qualitative research study seeks to develop a better understanding of the way Canadian right-wing white nationalists develop online in order to aid future radicalization research. After the tragic attacks on September 11^th, 2001, radicalization research has largely been focused on Islamist extremism. By utilizing a conventional content analysis approach to the open-sourced white nationalist discussion forum, stormfront.org, this thesis bridges the gap between the understanding of Islamist extremism and right-wing white nationalists. Ten Canadian white nationalists active on the …

Development Of Blast Risk Assessment Framework For Financial Loss And Casualty Estimation, Paresh Chandra Poudel

All Dissertations

The entire study can be divided into four main studies. Study I presents the development of probabilistic version of popular Kingery and Bulmash (KB) blast model. The probabilistic model was developed by considering the uncertainty in the model quantified using available experimental data. The model was then applied to generate fragility curves are developed for three types of glazing under three common bombing scenarios and study 1995 Oklahoma City damage.

Study II discusses on development a blast loss estimation framework for buildings where demand loads are calculated using the probabilistic blast model and capacity form seismic design. Loss for archetypes …

Terrorism And Organized Crime: An Analytical Study From An International Law Perspective, Leila Mejdoubi

Master's Theses

With the spread of terrorism and its growing risks since the start of the 21^st century, a wide range of reports and studies have emerged. This funding comes from a special relationship between terrorist organizations, organized crime syndicates, and their cooperation with each other, which has enabled terrorist organizations in particular to carry out recruitment efforts and operations alike. It has also fueled an international black market for smuggling and trade in drugs and arms. Under what conditions do violent terrorist groups driven by extreme Islamist ideology collaborate with organized criminal enterprises to generate the requisite resources to pursue …

Fragmentation, Frustrated Revolt, And Off-Shore Opportunity: A Comparative Examination Of Jihadi Mobilization In Central Asia And The South Caucasus, William B. Farrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research presents analysis for identifying common risk and resilience factors that contributed to or hindered Salafi jihadi mobilization of citizens of Central Asia and the South Caucasus and examines the extent to which these factors had differing internal and external outcomes on Salafi jihadi mobilization. Three levels of analysis provide examination of regime characteristics, behavior of jihadi organizations that mobilized individuals from the region, and case studies through interviews in communities affected by jihadi mobilization in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.

This research reveals that early distinctions in Islamist subnational struggles had oriented violence towards governments within Central Asia, while neighboring …

The Terrorism Trap: The Hidden Impact Of America's War On Terror, John Akins

Doctoral Dissertations

Nearly two decades after the declaration of the War on Terror, global terrorist attacks have increased. Beginning in 2005, the levels of domestic terrorism have drastically increased while international terrorism has not. This is a result of U.S. counterterrorism policy shifting towards “disaggregation” in which the U.S. government would focus on breaking up the global al Qaeda network into disconnected groups and rely on partner states’ militaries to target them. In particular, partner states’ focused their counterterrorism operations on the “ungoverned spaces” on their periphery, regions with a history of conflict with the central government and limited government presence in …

The Social Media Decision: Why Some Terrorist Organizations Choose To Build And Utilize A Social Media Presence And Others Do Not, Justin Robert Kinney

Doctoral Dissertations

Traditionally, radicalization was accomplished through isolation from society, in a small, personal, hands-on setting. But today, some groups have embraced social media platforms to reach and radicalize new supporters and recruits. This modern tool is an opportunity to reach more individuals in a manner that is less costly, easier, and less time-consuming. This has opened the process, allowing for both “direct recruiting”, targeting selected individuals, and “indirect recruiting”, loading material online and allowing it to spread to cause a form of self-radicalization in those who encounter it. This would seem beneficial for all rebel groups. If you successfully recruit even …

Gender And The Enactment Of Suicide Bombings By Boko Haram, Jordan N. Galehan

Dissertations

The Boko Haram terror group has utilized more women as suicide bombers than any other group in history. While prior research has examined why this phenomenon is occurring, and what makes Boko Haram a unique terror group, the present study examines how these attacks are being perpetrated, or enacted, by the female bombers. Utilizing the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), which is the largest terrorism incident database available, the study examined the incidents of female suicide bombings perpetrated by Boko Haram. The open-sourced citations provided by the GTD were compiled and turned into a complementary qualitative dataset. Overall, there were 151 …

Essays On Interplay Between Economics And Culture, Ishita Tripathi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation constitutes of two distinct essays on the influence of terrorism on individual perception and belief formation. In the first study, using micro-level data from 32 European countries, we find that an increase in terrorist activities by foreign perpetrators instigates negative sentiments towards immigrants. But the intensity of this adverse impact of terrorism decreases with time. Additionally, our analysis reveals that the effect of terrorism varies across individuals depending on various socio-economic attributes. Terrorism has a stronger negative influence on the residents, if their own country hosts relatively larger number of migrants. Individuals are not affected by terrorist attacks …

Terrorism Comes To Africa: The Spread Of Radical Islamic Terrorism Into Algeria And Nigeria, Norah Miriam Aamoum

Senior Theses

The purpose of this research is to show how radical Islamic terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda and ISIS have been able to infiltrate African societies and exploit their conflict in order to spread their own ideology. This paper looks at Algeria and Nigeria, two major countries on the African continent that have been plagued by terrorism since the late 20th century, and how the terrorist groups known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Boko Haram, and the Islamic State West Africa (IS-WA) came to be in their respective nations. It was a combination of internal and external factors that allowed …

Terrorism In The 2020s: Examining The Global Threat Landscape, Landon W. Swearngin

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to (1) explore the global trends and trajectories of terrorism, (2) identify emerging strategic challenges, and (3) outline an opportunity analysis for U.S. counterterrorism strategy. Collectively, this project provides a strategic forecast for terrorism in the 2020s, demonstrating that terrorism is becoming increasingly dangerous, dynamic, and difficult to defeat.

An Examination Of The Potential Threat Of A State-Sponsored Biological Attack Against The United States: A Study Of Policy Implications, Courtney Anne Pfluke

MSU Graduate Theses

In 2002, US Navy Seals found a list of pathogens in an Afghanistan cave that Al Qaeda had planned to use in a series of biological attacks. Unique about the discovery was that the pathogens were not limited to human ones. Six pathogens targeted livestock and four targeted crops. Despite this discovery, limited attention has been given to the possibility of a state-sponsored terrorist attack utilizing biological agents against the US population, food source, or water supply. Throughout history, biological agents have been developed for use as an offensive weapon for both states and terrorist groups. The United States may …

Utilizing Strategic Culture As A Tool To Tailor U.S. Deterrence Policy Towards Iran, Ryan P. Taylor

MSU Graduate Theses

The geostrategic environment since the end of the Cold War has drastically changed the way United States (U.S.) policymakers develop strategies to combat a wide range of hostile threats facing the country, especially in the field of the deterrence of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Iran is such an actor, who poses one of the greater proliferation threats in the world and continues to commit hostile actions in the Middle East. In this post-Cold War environment, it is imperative that the United States develop a tailored deterrence strategy to meet this challenge. Past deterrence strategies popular during the bipolar era …

Testing The Effects Of Us Airstrikes On Insurgent Initiated Violence In Yemen, Joshua Allen

Political Science Theses

Are U.S. airstrikes on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula effective at reducing al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula initiated attacks? Airstrikes have been a popular counterterrorism tool in the Obama and Trump administrations. However, the effectiveness of airstrikes has been contentious. Using ACLED data from 2016-2019 I estimate a series of negative binomial regressions. I first assess the effect of airstrikes generally and find that airstrikes are effective at reducing AQAP attacks. I then disaggregate my airstrike variable to examine the effects of militant casualties, leadership casualties, and civilian casualties independently. I find that civilian casualties and leadership casualties have no …

Seat 20d, Jill A. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

When artist Suse Lowenstein’s son Alex was murdered in the 1988 bombing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, to combat her grief, she spent 15 years creating 75 life-sized sculptures of mothers’ of the victims naked and posed in mourning. Now she needs to find them a home.

Sanctions And The Proliferation Of Terrorism: Cases Of Iran, Libya, And Bosnia-Herzegovina, Savanah Courtney

Public Administration & Policy

This study tests the hypothesis that the use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool produces favorable conditions for an increase in terrorism activity using cases of sanctions against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Libya, and Iran. Using literature as the basis for this hypothesis, data suggests that there is not significant evidence to support this theory using these cases. The circumstances surrounding the political environment and stability of each country tells different stories, where attributing rising terrorist activity to sanctions themselves ignores the complexity of foreign economies their political and social atmospheres in which they operate. This thesis alludes to several questions and …

The Performance Of Military Defense Contracted Companies After September 11th, 2001: The Case Of Politically Connected Companies, Derek J. Larsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper examines the effect that the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001 had on the stock prices of companies within the military defense industry. In addition, this paper studies the effect of the defense firms’ political engagement (through lobbying activities) and how this affected the stock price response to the terrorist attacks. Our study finds that the cumulative abnormal returns of these companies are positively significant and that companies who lobbied experienced higher returns relative to those who did not lobby.

Applications Of The Club Model To The Economics Of Terrorism, Alexander Daniel Ray

All Dissertations

Terrorism remains a controversial topic both in academia and in the public discourse. Building on previous social science research investigating the determinants of terrorism in a rational choice framework, I analyze terrorism through an economist's lens that assumes terrorist groups to be rational actors that use violence as a tool in pursuit of tangible political or ideological goals.

In the first chapter, I develop an economic model for the formation of alliances between terror groups, and why intergroup cooperation is more effective if the groups have a similar ideology. Groups cooperate in order to increase access to resources while maintaining …

Nonstate Actors And International Law: Just War Theory Or The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights?, Jason Lee Mitchell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There is a debate taking place within the global war on terror (GWT), and its legal and moral parameters are established by two basic arguments. The first is that “Citizens who associate themselves with the military arm of the enemy government, and with its aid, guidance and direction enter this country bent on hostile acts are enemy belligerents within the meaning of the Hague Convention and the law of war” (Ex parte Quirin, 37). The second is that an “Enemy combatant” is a general category that subsumes two sub-categories: lawful and unlawful combatants. The conclusion as it currently stands is …

The Role Of Women In Terrorism, Zeynep Bayar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The main purpose of this paper is to understand what motivate women to join terrorist groups and why these organizations prefer to work with female terrorists. Although each woman has different reasons to involve in terrorist groups, this research demonstrates 'religious, political and personal' reasons as the major motivating factors. This study also focuses on the question of why women are the targets of terror recruiters. In order to answer these, the research analysis examines 'psychological, gender, and media' factors as major recruitment reasons of terrorist organizations. This study also analyzes the similarities and differences between female terrorists' profiles of …

Surviving Isis:Life Stories Of Yezidi Women, Marian Mounir Rizkalla

Theses and Dissertations

My research centers on the experiences of five Yezidi female refugees in Kurdistan and how they survived the ISIS siege of their hometown- Sinjar. Yezidis, an ethno-religious community living in northern Iraq were the center of most news stories for the massacres they faced under ISIS and the sex-enslavement of thousands of them. This research attempts to show how a large-scale event like genocide impacts the life of the individual on the micro-level, but also how individual narratives are instrumental in constructing a collective identity, presenting Yezidis as a historically persecuted group. By examining sectarian relations in Iraq before and …

The Use Of State-Sponsored Torture For National Security: A Debate On The Permissibility Of Torture In The Name Of Public Safety, Matthew Fisher

Honors Program Theses

Can the United States government’s use of state-sponsored torture ever be justified for national security purposes? This question is a taboo subject that frequently elicits passionate responses from individuals who argue both for and against its use in upholding national security. This vigorous debate challenges moral, ethical, legal, and even pragmatic ideals in seeking to determine if state use of torture can ever be a part of America’s national security strategy. These considerations, and others, have inspired this research project and the specific research question which seeks to determine whether the United States government’s use of state-sponsored torture for national …

The Rise Of American Extremism: An Exploratory Analysis Of American Religious And Political Extremism From Presidents Jimmy Carter To Barack Obama: 1977-2016, Alwyn J. Melton

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative case study was to address the problem of domestic terrorism facing the United States. This concern led to a comprehensive examination of historical documents that focused on the temporal evolution of the problem beginning with the Carter administration and continuing through the Obama administration. The conceptual foundation centered on resolving the research question and validating three hypotheses directed at qualifying the escalation of domestic incidents of terrorism. This led to developing a behavioral model to assist law enforcement agencies in combating the issue of domestic terrorism. Bivariate and clustering statistical analysis validated the data while …

Expert Perspectives On How The Islamic State Potentially Shaped The Future Of Islamic Transnational Terrorism: An Exploratory Study, Richard Bryant Culp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) declared its caliphate in June 2014, there has been an unprecedented amount of terrorist attacks conducted in the West by individuals either inspired by jihadist ideology or linked to ISIS. As evidenced by the number of ISIS-related attacks throughout Europe and North America, the West faces an ongoing and persistent transnational threat from Islamic terrorism. There is an extensive amount of literature on terrorism and ISIS. However, there is a gap in literature on the potential impact of ISIS on the future of Islamic terrorism. This qualitative case study explored how …