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Political Science

2014

Terrorism

Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Essays On Battle Clusters In Internal Armed Conflicts And Insurgencies: Concept, Causes And Consequences, Chifeng Liu Dec 2014

Essays On Battle Clusters In Internal Armed Conflicts And Insurgencies: Concept, Causes And Consequences, Chifeng Liu

Theses and Dissertations

With the purpose to re-conceptualize the intensity of internal armed conflicts, I argue that the characteristics such as location, scale and duration of “major battlefields,” i.e. the spatio-temporal clusters of combat events are important in the evaluation of impact of modern civil wars and insurgencies. I start with elaborating and constructing a new concept of conflict magnitude with battle clusters using up-to-date geo-referenced data and spatial statistic methods. In the second article, I first explain the location and duration of major battlefields. The findings indicate that an area with multiple non-state armed groups (NSAGs) is more likely to become main …

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Factors That Shape U.S. Public Opinion On Foreign Policy, Julianne O'Connor Dec 2014

Factors That Shape U.S. Public Opinion On Foreign Policy, Julianne O'Connor

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Measuring public opinion is an undertaking requiring precise methods and a clear vision, and even then results can be inconclusive. Yet, understanding how and why a democratic public thinks the way it does, and to what extent those thoughts influence policymakers, is essential to a democracy. This paper will use data from the American National Election Survey to discuss the relationship between level of support for the war on terror and level of perceived effectiveness. Values, political sophistication, knowledge, and self-efficacy can each be used to predict the level of support an individual has for the war on terror, and …

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Post-9/11 Illegal Immigrant Detention And Deportation: Terrorism And The Criminalization Of Immigration, Stefany N. Laun Oct 2014

Post-9/11 Illegal Immigrant Detention And Deportation: Terrorism And The Criminalization Of Immigration, Stefany N. Laun

Student Publications

This paper analyzes the changes in immigration policy since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in terms of how immigrants are viewed in the United States. The goal is to address the recent criminalization of immigration in that the perceptions of terrorists and immigrants have become relatively synonymous since 2001. Although deportations have decreased, immigrant detention has increased significantly. Detention centers pose threats to the basic human rights of the immigrants residing in them, as well as perpetuate the culture of fear enveloping recent immigrants, whether they are legally or illegally in the country, and native United States citizens …

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International Norm Echoing In Rebel Groups: The Cases Of The Kosovo Liberation Army And The Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam, Jennifer A. Mueller Jun 2014

International Norm Echoing In Rebel Groups: The Cases Of The Kosovo Liberation Army And The Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam, Jennifer A. Mueller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research demonstrates that rebel groups use international norms in their discourse and echo patterns in the discourse of states and that they do so to promote their own legitimacy at key turning points in their conflicts. Which international norms rebel groups use most frequently is partially determined by the congruence of those norms with their local norms and beliefs and the degree to which a group's internal structure has become more hierarchical and specialized. Two rebel groups are examined in this study over the course of their conflicts: the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil …

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The Specter Of Intolerance: Understanding Religious Violence In Pakistan, Syeda Haider May 2014

The Specter Of Intolerance: Understanding Religious Violence In Pakistan, Syeda Haider

Honors Scholar Theses

The role of religion in Pakistani political and civil life has had a defining role in the political development of the nation. The country is now a breeding ground for religious extremism, with militant groups conducting brutal attacks against the Shia, Ahmedi, Christian and Hindu communities of Pakistan. There have been few explanations attempting to describe the problem of religious violence domestically, within Pakistan’s borders towards Pakistani citizens. This essay examines how, despite Pakistan’s initial conception as a secular state, the country has become haunted by intense religious violence. It links the lack of consensus around national identity with the …

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Challenging The State: Evaluating The Effects Of Uneven Distribution Of Public Goods, Economic Globalization And Political Openness On Domestic Terrorism, Sambuddha Ghatak May 2014

Challenging The State: Evaluating The Effects Of Uneven Distribution Of Public Goods, Economic Globalization And Political Openness On Domestic Terrorism, Sambuddha Ghatak

Doctoral Dissertations

The end of Cold-War ushered in an era of global economic integration and political openness in terms of emerging democracies; the world celebrated the triumph of free market capitalism as the East European ex-communist countries and Third World countries of Asia and Africa placed market forces at the center of their policy. There seems to have been a breakthrough for the idea of the Manchester School, in terms of using economics as a means of international peace. On the other hand, however, the world is not at peace. The collapse of the “Soviet Empire” was followed by the emergence, or …

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The September 12, 2012 Rose Garden Address: President Barack Obama’S “9/11” Moment, Michael Eisenstadt Apr 2014

The September 12, 2012 Rose Garden Address: President Barack Obama’S “9/11” Moment, Michael Eisenstadt

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Albert Einstein once said memory is deceiving given it is colored by the events of today. The old adage “history repeats itself” fails to illustrate the powerful capacity for memory to sustain and revise historical events. Presidents often inject memories of the past into public address to define troubling situations in ways that broad, national audiences can make sense of them. Barack Obama’s Rose Garden Address rejuvenates and exploits the public memory of September 11 in three ways: by (1) situating the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi as an extension of its timeline; (2) reaffirming the identity of …

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Terrorism: Libya’S Role In The Instability Of The Region, Cara Rabe-Hemp, Cayla Comens Apr 2014

Terrorism: Libya’S Role In The Instability Of The Region, Cara Rabe-Hemp, Cayla Comens

Graduate Research - Criminal Justice

When media focuses its attention on the subject of terrorism, the country of Libya is not typically at the forefront of the discussion. However, Libya has a deep hand in terrorism dating back to when Colonel Muammar Qaddafi took control of the country in 1969. During the years that Qaddafi was in control, he financially backed terrorist organizations, who repeatedly aimed their sights on the United States and their allies. Even after the fall of Qaddafi’s regime, terrorism is still a part of the governmental strategy in the country. The attack in Benghazi against an American compound, which resulted in …

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Vanguards No Longer: Challenges To Al Qaeda Leadership Of The Jihadist Community, Byron J. Doerfer Apr 2014

Vanguards No Longer: Challenges To Al Qaeda Leadership Of The Jihadist Community, Byron J. Doerfer

Senior Theses and Projects

2014 marks the first time that al Qaeda’s supremacy in the Jihadist community has been challenged. al Qaeda’s former franchise in Iraq, now called the “Islamic State,” has declared the organization responsible for 9/11 “Tyrants” and “Apostates.” The Islamic State has begun openly attacking al Qaeda’s official franchise in Syria, Jabhat al Nusra. These events are a consequence of the strategy of franchising that al Qaeda undertook following 9/11. The root of the issue between al Qaeda and its former Iraqi franchise is over a difference over the importance placed on popular support as a key ingredient in achieving the …

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Deadly Premonition: Does Terrorist-Leader Psychology Influence Violence Lethality?, Clayton Besaw Jan 2014

Deadly Premonition: Does Terrorist-Leader Psychology Influence Violence Lethality?, Clayton Besaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to address a theoretical and empirical gap within terrorism studies, and more specially the study of terrorist-group lethality. This research updates a model of terrorist-group lethality by including terrorist-leader psychology as an individual-level variable in predicting terrorist-group lethality. Terrorist-leader statements were analyzed by using two novel coding schemes called Operational Code and Leadership Trait Analysis to create quantified measurements of leader cognitive beliefs and personality traits. The empirical portion of this study utilizes pooled cross-sectional time-series data within the framework of fixed effects and multi-level estimation models. The results find that terrorist-leader psychology, and more specifically Instrumental …

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Performance, Politics, And The War On Terror: "Whatever It Takes", Lindsey Mantoan Jan 2014

Performance, Politics, And The War On Terror: "Whatever It Takes", Lindsey Mantoan

Faculty Publications

Lindsey Mantoan reviews Performance, Politics, and the War on Terror: "Whatever It Takes" (by Sara Brady) for TDR: The Drama Review.

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Review: The Bush Leadership, The Power Of Ideas, And The War On Terror, Dylan Kissane Jan 2014

Review: The Bush Leadership, The Power Of Ideas, And The War On Terror, Dylan Kissane

Dylan Kissane

No abstract provided.

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The Axe Without The Handle: An Exploratory Analysis Of Eco-Terrorism And Its Relationships To U.S. Public Policy Towards Terrorism:1990-2010, Phillip Andrew Smith Jan 2014

The Axe Without The Handle: An Exploratory Analysis Of Eco-Terrorism And Its Relationships To U.S. Public Policy Towards Terrorism:1990-2010, Phillip Andrew Smith

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

From 1990-2010 ecoterrorist attacks by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF) created an anomaly in the U.S. with millions of dollars in property destruction. Interestingly, in a post 9/11 era, the FBI warns that the number one threat to U.S. national security is not religious terrorism, but rather environmental-group terrorism. When examining this topic further, there is a void in analysis between examining ecoterrorist attacks and U.S. public policy. Is there a statistical significant relationship between terrorist attacks by ALF/ELF and U.S. public policy towards terrorism? Is per capita income an influence on the attacks occurring …

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Unpacking The Impact Of Democracy On Terrorism, Issares Lertangtam Jan 2014

Unpacking The Impact Of Democracy On Terrorism, Issares Lertangtam

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

While policy makers assert that democracy can reduce terrorism, academics have produced differing theories explaining the relationship between the two. One theory suggests that democracy discourages terrorism because citizens in democracy can express grievances through electoral process resulting in their less incentive to resort to violence. Another theory argues that democracy encourages terrorism because its enabling environment reduces the cost of terrorist activities. Still another contends that democracy increases terrorism because political contestation in democracy induces some groups to use violence to outbid for their cause. Other strands exist including one suggesting no relationship between democracy and terrorism. These controversial …

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Multicultural Public Policy And Homegrown Terrorism In The European Union, Macklin Keith Everly Jan 2014

Multicultural Public Policy And Homegrown Terrorism In The European Union, Macklin Keith Everly

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

From the 1970s to the 1990s, Western European democracies embraced multiculturalist public policy (MCPP). This was in an effort to address and accommodate the minority rights of immigrants who found their way to Europe during its post-WWII labor force recovery. By the mid-1990s, there was a backlash against such policy and movement towards integrationist values. This has been exacerbated in the wake of radical Islamist terror attacks like those of 9/11, the London 7/7 bombing, and the Paris Metro Bombings of 1995. Attention has been focused on the threat, incidence, and causal factors of homegrown jihadism within Europe. The research …

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When Insurgents Go Terrorist: The Role Of Foreign Support In The Adoption Of Terrorism, Jeffrey F. Fourman Jan 2014

When Insurgents Go Terrorist: The Role Of Foreign Support In The Adoption Of Terrorism, Jeffrey F. Fourman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

What role does foreign support play when an insurgent group adopts terrorism? Utilizing both quantitative analysis and in-depth case studies, this thesis examines the effects of foreign support among other commonly cited explanations for an insurgency's adoption of terrorism. In addition to observing the effects of foreign support on the adoption of terrorism, the effects of government regime type, insurgent group goal type, insurgent group strength, and foreign benefactor type are analyzed. After executing a multiple logistic regression analysis of 109 intrastate conflicts occurring from 1972 to 2007 and conducting detailed case studies for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and …

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Counterinsurgency In Afghanistan: A Last Ditch Effort To Turn Around A Failing War, Benjamin P. Mccullough Jan 2014

Counterinsurgency In Afghanistan: A Last Ditch Effort To Turn Around A Failing War, Benjamin P. Mccullough

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

As the United States moved closer to ending its military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, intense debate on the relevance and success of the United States' counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy in the country continues. Many observers have been quick to declare the strategy a failure without fully analyzing the critical components of COIN doctrine that are necessary for a campaign to succeed, and the extent to which those components were in place in Afghanistan. This study examines the case of Afghanistan by determining whether the U.S.'s counterinsurgency strategy was successful in achieving the four main objectives identified by …

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Security Threats In Perspective: Understanding The Failures Of American Foreign Policy In Africa, Carolyn S. Lenderts Jan 2014

Security Threats In Perspective: Understanding The Failures Of American Foreign Policy In Africa, Carolyn S. Lenderts

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to examine the nature and major causes of American foreign policy in Africa since the end of the Cold War. Among these is a tendency to view African states, threats, and crises in terms of American strategic interests, not as events with independent relevance to American priorities. The post-9/11 fervor muddled many important distinctions about the relationship between African states, state power, and international terrorist groups. The United States acted too quickly, helping African states militarize without understanding the nature of the threat and the way in which a heavily militarized response would entrench rebel groups. Seeing …

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'Ecoterrorism': Terrorist Threat Or Political Ploy?, Cas Mudde, Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler Dec 2013

'Ecoterrorism': Terrorist Threat Or Political Ploy?, Cas Mudde, Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler

Cas Mudde

This article examines the phenomenon of “ecoterrorism” from a conceptual and empirical perspective. We explore the political and academic debates over the meaning and use of the term ecoterrorism, and assess the validity of the concept of “ecoterrorism” and of the alleged threat of the Radical Environmentalist and Animal Rights (REAR) movement by analyzing the characteristics of both the movement and its actions. Our analysis shows that the term ecoterrorism should only be used for a small proportion of the actions of REAR movement. Consequently, counterterrorist measures should only target these terrorist minorities, rather than all groups and the broader …

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