Social Psychology Commons^™

A Radical Idea: Applying Psychological Strategy To Combat Foreign Fighters Defending The Islamic State, David Michael Smaney

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis focuses on the necessity of psychological strategies to combat the Islamic State’s recruitment of foreign fighters. This thesis argues that psychological strategies are a primary weapon due to the psychological nature of the war against the Islamic State, which is a part of the overall war of ideas. This thesis does not consider psychological strategies for other aspects of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, nor does it reflect the difficulties involved with developing U.S. strategies in the U.S. federal government. Furthermore, this thesis only focuses on foreign fighter defending and supporting the Islamic State, which is the successor of Al …

A Theoretical Analysis Of Isis Indoctrination And Recruitment, Trevor Hawkins

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper is an attempt to use various theories in the social sciences as a tool to understand the mechanisms employed in ISIS indoctrination and recruitment tactics. There is a discussion of theories that have been developed in the field of influence psychology, rationalizing the context of indoctrination within this area of study. There is a discussion of proposedly relevant materials in philosophy, specifically simulacrum and linguistic deconstruction. These components are extrapolated to interpret a first person account of ISIS indoctrination, the first-ever ISIS recruitment film, and a Radical-Islamist periodical Inspire Magazine. Using a form of propaganda film analysis, and …

The Psychology Of Terrorism And Radicalization, Gina K. Dejacimo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Terrorism and radicalized political groups are an ever-growing subsection of the American and international news cycles. Mainstream media outlets tend to focus on the atrocious actions of terrorists, leaving the American public without a true understanding of what encourages someone to become a violent, radicalized extremist. This paper intends to investigate possible psychological factors that can predict a person’s likelihood to become radicalized and participate in a salafi jihadi terrorist campaign. If such psychological conditions exist, perhaps they are the key to preventing radicalization in the first place, and in turn, the key to preventing any terrorist activity. What other …

The Name Game As Blame Game: The Domodedovo Terrorist Bombing, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the relevance of blame in the context of terrorism.

American Graffiti: Musings On The Ground Zero Mosque, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses reactions and parallels to a mosque proposed near the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in public discourse.

Against The State Governance, Governance From Below & Governing Through Terrorism: Analytically Investigating The Technologies Of Power Within The Terrorist Arsenal., Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

Terrorism as a violent and destabilizing act performed by terrorists, meaning loyal followers of political or religious agendas who hold resent and animosity toward a certain authority/ government (Lin, Liou, & Wu, 2007, pg. 149), will be explored and analyzed through the utilization of the governmentality perspective. For the purposes of this paper terrorism governance will refer to the governance/ control/ influence exerted by terrorists and terrorism. The focus of this explorative and analysis paper will be to identify diverse terrorism oriented technologies of governance, and analyze the ways in which these technologies enable terrorist to exert governance both indirectly …

Summary: Israeli- Palestinian Ethnic Conflict, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

The Israeli- Palestinian ethnic conflict will continue to escalate throughout both the short term and long term world future. The current and future animosity between both ethnic groups can be attributed to (a) history based accounts and religious tensions, (b) polarizing ideologies held by both sides, and (c) middle eastern resentment toward the Jewish state of Israel. History based accounts will refer to both biased historical accounts and factual historical events that have contributed to the Israeli- Palestinian ethnic conflict. Concepts such as ethnicity, nationalism, ideology, Palestinians, Israeli’s, Arabs, and religion will be conceptualized in the research paper.

Israeli- Palestinian Ethnic Conflict, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

This research paper discusses the historical, religious, and ideological factors linked to the Israeli- Palestinian ethnic conflict, and how these factors have contributed to middle eastern resentment toward the Jewish State of Israeli. The Modernist Theory, Perceptual Framework, and he Domestic Framework have been applied to the analysis of the Israeli- Palestinian ethnic conflict, in order to demonstrate the intensity of the above factors and their provocative role in the conflict. Other provocative issues that are discussed in this paper include territorial wars, ethnic nationalism, the competition for natural resources, the biased dissemination of historical text through educational institutions, and …

Globalization & Nationalism: A Recipe For Terror, Cari Bourette, Daniel Reader

Cari Bourette

Nationalism appears to be part of the human condition; it may well be related to the human tendency toward tribalism. Whatever the case, nationalism appears to be a permanent feature on the global landscape. Globalization, while not a new phenomenon by any means, seems to be having a tremendous dilutory effect on the sovereignty of states; it now appears to be carrying the assault to the cultural frontiers of nationalism. Unlike the Westphalian constructs, however, nations will not so easily succumb. There is a greater inherent resistance to change in nations; the only historically effective method has been outright eradication …

The Psychology Of Intelligent Video Analysis, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article examines issues surrounding software-enhanced video analysis in an intelligence context.

Political Authority And Social Cognitions On The War On Terrorism With Global Reach: Airport Security, Terrorism Contingent On A United States-Led Attack On Iraq, Smallpox Vaccinations, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents analyses of three common social cognitions embraced by many representatives of political authority concerning aspects of the war on terrorism with global reach.

Context And Demonizing The I.R.A., Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article questions a consensus that the I.R.A. is largely responsible for the recent suspension of Northern Ireland’s home-rule government by the United Kingdom.

Public Diplomacy And International Broadcasting As Antiterrorism Weapons: Philosophical Dilemmas, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes problematic assumptions in differentiating public diplomacy from international broadcasting as weapons against terrorism with global reach.

Trends. Preemption Logics, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the idea and complexities of preemption in the context of 21^st century global terrorism.

Trends. Self-Esteem And Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the role self-esteem plays in terrorist behavior. Analysis includes the application of Jennifer Crocker and Connie T. Wolfe’s views as presented in their 2001 Psychological Review article “Contingencies of self-worth” (Vol 108 (3), pp. 593-623).

Magical Thinking But No Magic: Implications For Sacred Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes lay and scientific psychological constructs of magic with implications for terrorism perpetrated through religious motivation.

Trends. Zero-Sum Games And Terrorism: Israeli And Palestinian Contestants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The construct of the zero-sum game has several denotations in the political psychological literature on conflict.

Trends. Border Security Legislation, Terrorism-Sponsoring Nations, And Evil, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The IBPP editor discusses limiting temporary visas for visitors from alleged terrorism-sponsoring nations as a way of "tightening" the security of national borders.

Ibpp Research Associates: Uganda, Staff Writer – The Monitor Online (Uganda)

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article - Issue joint statement against bombs, by a newspaper staff writer - was originally posted on The Monitor [Online] (Uganda) on January 30, 2001. It presents information about the 2001 elections in Uganda, comparing the current events to the violence- and tension-filled elections of 1996.

The full article is not available for download due to copyright restrictions. Please contact Daily Monitor for details.

Daily Monitor was established as an independent daily newspaper, The Monitor, and relaunched as Daily Monitor in June 2005. Daily Monitor is a subsidiary of Monitor Publications Ltd, which is owned by The Nation Media …

Trends. Terrorism Wins Again And Again: Explosion In The Port Of Aden, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the nature of terrorism as a long-established means for accomplishing political goals via targeting survivors of terrorist attacks.

The Public Psychologies Of Terrorism: An Example From France, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes several hypothetical intrapsychic phenomena that may be activated to engender terrorist behavior after the publicization of a terrorist event.