Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

From The Acting Editor In Chief, Conrad C. Crane

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Spring 2023 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary and the SRAD Director’s Corner focused on Afghanistan, three forums, and two Reviews and Replies.

Afterlives Of The United States’ Withdrawal From Afghanistan, Maryam Shanori

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Abstract

The present research investigated the effects of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 that led to a massive evacuation of thousands from the country and how Afghan Bard College students perceived these events. To gain insight into these questions, I interviewed eight Bard College Afghan students on what they think of the past twenty years of war, the US invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban and their relationship with al-Qaeda as well as the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the current and future situation in Afghanistan. …

Viral Jihad: A Genealogy Of Al-Qaeda And Isis' Propaganda, Renee Perper

CMC Senior Theses

For the past twenty years, the United States has been at war. Yet, while invocations of war often evoke images of soldiers on the battlefield, the war the U.S. has been fighting looks far different. In the past two decades, the U.S. has attempted to curb the impact of terrorist organizations’ media usage. This paper explores the genealogy of that media battle through a case study of al-Qaeda and ISIS’ media apparatuses. It argues that, often overlooked, is the role that media plays as a foundational element in both groups’ organizational structures. Moreover, this paper will demonstrate how ISIS has …

Father Ciferni Takes The Chair

St. Norbert Times

• News
  • Father Ciferni Takes the Chair
  • Knight Theater’s Tuck Everlasting
  • Making a Difference
  • College’s Against Cancer’s Hope Dinner
• Opinion
  • America’s Call Out Culture
  • Knowing Useful Stuff
  • Positivity in Social Media
  • Guatemalan Crime and Corruption
  • A Weird Winter Break Experience
• Features
  • What to Do Amidst All the Snow
  • Get Your Hands on ‘Handshake!’
  • Sensenbrenner Goes Co-Ed
• Entertainment
  • Student Spotlight
  • Word Search
  • Did you Know???
  • Music Recommendation: Sammy Rae & The Friends
  • Greatest Movies of the 2010s
  • Favorite Christmas Movies and Music
  • Upcoming Events
  • Movies in Theaters
  • Upcoming Movies
  • Junk Drawer
  • “The Lady and the Tramp” Review
• Sports
  • Men’s Volleyball Falls In …

A Call For Transparency

St. Norbert Times

• News
  • A Call for Transparency
  • Alan Nadel on “The Piano Lesson”
  • Does God Exist?
• Opinion
  • America First
  • Speak Up
  • Intercultural Views on the Family
  • Afghanistan: Fight for Peace
  • Are You an Active Citizen?
  • What’s the Most Wonderful Time of The Year?
• Features
  • College Traditions Revealed
  • Finals 101 for First Years
  • Native American Heritage Month
• Entertainment
  • Student Spotlight
  • Word Search
  • Did You Know???
  • A Review (and Eulogy) of “Lodge 49”
  • Book Review: “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo
  • Lionsgate Adapting Tamora Pierce’s “Tortall” Series
  • Junk Drawer: Worst Thanksgiving Food
  • “The Curse of Oak Island”: Top 5 Finds
• Sports
  • Alysa Liu: American Skating …

Conversation Over Controversy

St. Norbert Times

• News
  • Conversation Over Controversy
  • The 30^th Tail of the Fox Regatta
  • Run for Lungs
  • Week of Homecoming Recap
  • Tom Kunkel on the Man on Fire
• Opinion
  • Celebrities Are Just Like Us, Right?
  • It’s Okay Not to be Okay
  • Finding Beauty in New Ways
  • The Everlasting Struggle of the Kurdish People
  • Finding Myself
  • War, Revolution and Love
• Features
  • Growing to Our Highest Potential
  • Why Luna=Local
  • Finding Religion Through Art
• Entertainment
  • Student Spotlight
  • Word Search
  • Did You Know??
  • Book Review: “Recursion” by Black Crouch
  • What to Watch This Fall
  • “Destiny 2: Shadowkeep” Review
  • “Civil War”: The Best… in Audio
  • Junk Drawer: …

Themes In Global Terrorism From 2010 To 2016, Rafael Sholomov

Student Theses

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the amount of global terrorism incidents. There has also been an increase in the amount of organizations that commit these acts of terror. Specifically, the attacks seem to have increased drastically since 2010 because the year signifies the beginning of the downfall of Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda at the time. The current study explores and analyzes the pattern of non-U.S. global terrorism between 2010 and 2016. Between the timeframe, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) began to gain tremendous ground and territory globally and would later …

Strategic Insights: Isis In Libya: A Threat Or A Dead-End?, Azeem Ibrahim

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Avoiding Nation-Building: From Nixon To Trump, Dominic Tierney

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

Disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating al-Qaeda based and inspired terrorism is a declared policy of the U.S. Government. Three key strategic objectives have been identified for accomplishing this: attacking al-Qaeda’s terror network, undermining radicalization and recruitment, and hardening homeland defense. The present monograph proposes a distinct "jihad-realist" approach for undermining radicalization and recruitment to al-Qaeda. First, a brief discussion of six means for ending terrorist organizations is provided. Second, the premises of a jihad-realist approach are described. Third, a jihad-realist shari’a case against al-Qaeda’s terrorism is presented. In conclusion, key assertions are summarized, and several specific policy recommendations offered for …

Countering Radicalization And Recruitment To Al-Qaeda: Fighting The War Of Deeds, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

This Letort Paper proposes that actions, policies, and deeds—those of the U.S. Government and al-Qaeda—be leveraged as a means of delegitimizing al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda. Two chief fronts—changing deeds and challenging deeds—is proposed. Changing deeds requires that the United States carefully and systematically examine its own foreign and military policies and their specific consequences for the Arab and Muslim world. Challenging deeds comprises systematically countering with evidence and fact al-Qaeda’s two greatest propagandistic fabrications: that the United States is a crusader at war with Islam, and that al-Qaeda is the vanguard defender of a besieged and oppressed Muslim Umma. Provocative at …

The Egyptian Islamic Group’S Critique Of Al-Qaeda’S Interpretation Of Jihad, Paul Kamolnick

Paul Kamolnick

A specific branch of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh al-jihad) regulates the waging of the jihad of the sword (jihad bis saif). In this article, a detailed exposition is presented of the Egyptian Islamic Group’s (IG; Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiyya) use of fiqh al jihad against Al-Qaeda. The present author’s ‘jihad-realist’ approach is first briefly described; the IG’s critique of AQ systematically outlined; and in conclusion, implications are derived for counter-radicalisation strategies.

Frankenstein: The United States In Afghanistan During The 1980s And 1990s, Michael R. Szymanski

Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences

For nearly the past quarter century, the United States has been involved in covert operations in a region of the world that most people could not locate on a map. Invisible wars being fought by the United States and other foreign intelligence agencies in Afghanistan sowed the seeds for the attacks on September 11, 2001. From the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the summer of 2001, intelligence agencies from around the globe have had a stake in supplying, training, and funding the very same people who carried out those terrible attacks. In the middle of this chaotic time period, Osama …

The Making Of A Virtual Monster: Ideological Criticism On The Isis Hate And Extremism, Md Shah Jahan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The 9/11 incident and its subsequent terrorism specifically the rise of radical Islamist groups like ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), and al-Qaeda astounds the world. ISIS’s propaganda technique using digital media helps the terrorist group motivate and recruit a large group of people from around the world. Terrorist incidents like the Dhaka café in 2016 and France soccer game attack in 2015 provide a glimpse of ISIS ferocity and barbarism with its subsequent series of attacks. This research examines the kind of rhetorical language that ISIS leaders and followers use to support their ideologies. And, how the internet …

The Franchising Effect On The Al-Qaeda Enterprise And Related Transnational Terror Groups: Patterns Of Evolution Of Al-Qaeda Affiliates In The 21st Century, Nicholas Benjamin Law

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The attacks of September 11, 2001 by Al-Qaeda-sponsored militants represented a high- water mark for the terrorist organization in its self-styled journey to become the inspirational Islamic vanguard for disenchanted Muslims across the globe. In the years that followed these attacks, the Al-Qaeda enterprise underwent a constant rate of evolution and mutation, resulting in a phenomenon of parallel and like-minded Islamist groups pledging allegiance to Usama bin Laden and his ideological vision of a global jihad. Instead of strengthening the overall organization, this expansion diluted the command and control of Al-Qaeda senior leaders in their ability to shape the overall …

You Have Atomic Bombs, We Have The Martyrdom-Seekers: Ayman Al-Zawahiri’S Narrative Arc Of The Martyr, Tim Huffman

Peace and Conflict Studies

Martyrdom has an undeniable rhetorical dimension, and part of a martyr’s voice is the manner of his or her death. However, martyrdom does not stand alone. It is contextualized and constructed by the voice of ideologues. This project looks at the spoken and written rhetoric of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, leader of al-Qaeda, and seeks to understand his descriptions, attributions, and stories about martyrs and martyrdom. An analysis of 93 statements by Zawahiri was performed to identify his overarching martyr narrative and archetype. Major findings include a taxonomy of martyr attributes and a narrative trajectory of martyrdom. While pro-USA rhetoric constructs al-Qaeda’s …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of America's War On Terror, Erik W. Goepner

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Isolated Islamists: The Case Of The Allied Democratic Forces In The Ugandan-Congolese Borderland, Suranjan Weeraratne, Sterling Recker

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This study investigates the absence of substantive linkages between locally based Salafi Jihadist movements and their more transnational counterparts such as Al-Qaeda or ISIS. While studies have addressed the heterogeneity in Jihadi alliances, the question of why inter-Jihadi ties are completely absent or tenuous at times is under-theorized in the literature. Given ISIS’s recent inexorable advance through the Middle East and North Africa and its ever-growing ties with local Jihadists, it is timely to investigate under what conditions locally based militant Islamists are less likely to forge ties with global Jihadists. Using the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)—a militant Islamist group …

Understanding The Roots, Methods And Consequences Of Islamic Radicalization In Kosovo, Agnesa Dalipi

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis examines the root causes of the appeal of violent Islamic extremism that led to the surge of foreign fighters from Kosovo to Syria and Iraq. The subject of Islamic foreign fighter recruitment is a nascent area of research. From the analysis of the phenomenon in Kosovo, this thesis seeks to extrapolate insights that can be applied more broadly to the debate over whether the success in the Islamic State's recruitment is a result of religious or socioeconomic factors, or a combination of both. Understanding the causes will enable counterterrorist analysts and in both Kosovo and other countries to …

Strategic Insights: Economic Power: Time To Double Down, John F. Troxell

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Strategic Insights: Would A Post-2011 Residual U.S. Force In Iraq Have Changed Anything?, W. Andrew Terrill

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Colin Powell, Torture And Terror, Jonathan Cohen

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

This paper will address evidence linking the former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, to the hotly-debated torture program of the George W. Bush (GWB) administration. The evidence in this paper suggests that the policies and practices of torture in the War on Terror were planned and authorized by General Powell and other senior officials in the GWB administration.

Countering Radicalization And Recruitment To Al-Qaeda: Fighting The War Of Deeds, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Authors Bookshelf

This Letort Paper proposes that actions, policies, and deeds—those of the U.S. Government and al-Qaeda—be leveraged as a means of delegitimizing al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda. Two chief fronts—changing deeds and challenging deeds—is proposed. Changing deeds requires that the United States carefully and systematically examine its own foreign and military policies and their specific consequences for the Arab and Muslim world. Challenging deeds comprises systematically countering with evidence and fact al-Qaeda’s two greatest propagandistic fabrications: that the United States is a crusader at war with Islam, and that al-Qaeda is the vanguard defender of a besieged and oppressed Muslim Umma. Provocative at …

Al-Qaeda In Syria: Implications For Middle Eastern Security And U.S Foreign Policy., Ibrahim Pataudi

CMC Senior Theses

This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive description and analysis of Al-Qaeda affiliates fighting in Syria. The implications for Middle Eastern Security, US foreign policy and Islamic extremism in the future are projected.

The Egyptian Islamic Group’S Critique Of Al-Qaeda’S Interpretation Of Jihad, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Faculty Works

A specific branch of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh al-jihad) regulates the waging of the jihad of the sword (jihad bis saif). In this article, a detailed exposition is presented of the Egyptian Islamic Group’s (IG; Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiyya) use of fiqh al jihad against Al-Qaeda. The present author’s ‘jihad-realist’ approach is first briefly described; the IG’s critique of AQ systematically outlined; and in conclusion, implications are derived for counter-radicalisation strategies.

Overseas Drone Attacks Test Constitution's Precepts, David Houghton

UCF Forum

We are occasionally reminded just how difficult it can be for Congress to keep tabs on what the executive branch does.

Law Enforcement Intelligence Recruiting Confidential Informants Within “Religion-Abusing Terrorist Networks”, Hursit Ucak

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the motivation factors that make some individuals (terrorists) confidential informants. The study is based on the assumptions of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theories. Accordingly, main assumption of the present study is that some individuals with unsatisfied needs in religion-abusing terrorist (RAT) networks choose to become confidential informants to satisfy their predominant needs. The main hypothesis for the purpose of this study is “The individuals’ decision-making processes to cooperate with law enforcement intelligence (LEI) as a confidential informant is affected by some motivation factors during recruitment process.” The present study tests 27 hypotheses in order …

Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Authors Bookshelf

Disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating al-Qaeda based and inspired terrorism is a declared policy of the U.S. Government. Three key strategic objectives have been identified for accomplishing this: attacking al-Qaeda’s terror network, undermining radicalization and recruitment, and hardening homeland defense. The present monograph proposes a distinct "jihad-realist" approach for undermining radicalization and recruitment to al-Qaeda. First, a brief discussion of six means for ending terrorist organizations is provided. Second, the premises of a jihad-realist approach are described. Third, a jihad-realist shari’a case against al-Qaeda’s terrorism is presented. In conclusion, key assertions are summarized, and several specific policy recommendations offered for …

Hellfire And Grey Drones: An Empirical Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Targeted Killings, Matthew A. Morehouse

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the effectiveness of the United States’ targeted killing program. Specifically, do targeted killings work as an effective program for combating global terrorism? This thesis is divided into parts. The first section provides a brief introduction to targeted killings. The second part consists of an examination of targeted killings as an essentially contested concept, arguing that targeted killings can be defined in a manner consistent with the scientific enterprise. The third section contains a thorough review of the literature on targeted killings, demonstrating that there is a dearth of works investigating the actual effectiveness of targeted killings. The …

Bin Laden’S Formation Of The Self: A Comparative Analysis, Robyn Torok

Australian Counter Terrorism Conference

Following the 9/11 and similar al-Qaeda attacks, one of the principle questions we ask as a Western Society is why? Researchers on religious terrorism generally agree that psychopathic labelling and descriptions are both unhelpful and inaccurate. Instead what is needed is a look at the broader sociological context. As a result, this paper utilises Foucault’s technologies of the self (formation of the self) as a framework to explore the self transformations and teleology of Osama bin Laden’s actions based on a comparative analysis with the biblical character of Moses. This analysis will include a number of important parallels which include: …