Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Does “See Something, Say Something” Work?, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Do “See Something, Say Something” programs work? The evidence strongly suggests that in the specific case of public surface transportation, the answer is “yes.” Transport staff and passengers play an important role in the prevention of terrorist attacks. By discovering and reporting suspicious objects, they have prevented more than 10 percent of all terrorist attacks on public surface transportation. Detection rates are even better in the economically advanced countries where more than 14 percent of the attempts are detected—and have been improving. This MTI Security Perspective analyzes detections since 1970 and suggests that “See Something, Say Something” campaigns are worthwhile.

The Logic Behind Suicide Terrorism And Its Connection To Islam, Sarah Minnick

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze suicide terrorism and to examine the logic behind it. The thesis will examine recent Islamic suicide terrorism and why it is so successful. This paper will also attempt to define suicide terrorism and explain how it functions.

The first half of this thesis reviews a short history of suicide terrorism to show the logic behind it. It will begin with the Old Testament and continue throughout history until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. This thesis will discuss the motivation for terrorist organizations to …

Train Wrecks And Track Attacks: An Analysis Of Attempts By Terrorists And Other Extremists To Derail Trains Or Disrupt Rail Transportation, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Attempts to sabotage rails and deliberately derail passenger trains have a long history in conventional and guerrilla warfare as well as during some particularly bitter labor disputes in the past. Since the 1970s, political fanatics have become a major adversary. Terrorists have sought to derail trains to achieve high-casualty events, while anarchists and issue oriented extremists have attacked rails to attract attention to their causes and impose economic damage. In this report, we examine the more than a thousand attempts to derail trains and to attack rail infrastructure to discern overall patterns and trends. We then look at four subsets …

Library Perceptions During Times Of Terror: Students Affected By The October 1 Shooting And Their Impressions Of Safety In The Academic Library Community, Kelsey Lupo

Library Faculty Presentations

After the mass terrorism event in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, the University of Nevada Las Vegas community used the spaces of their school to shelter and heal. During that attack that occurred only three miles away from campus, the library was described as a sanctuary that students reportedly did not want to leave. In an attempt to gain insight into what makes a community space safe and comforting, especially during an attack like the Mandalay Bay shooting, survey data will be collected from UNLV students to evaluate their perceptions of safety within the school’s main branch library. What …

An Analysis Of Vehicle Ramming As A Terrorist Threat, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Ramming attacks in which drivers deliberately plow their vehicles into public gatherings, pedestrians, or bicyclists, have become an increasingly common terrorist tactic. This MTI Security Perspective, by Brian Michael Jenkins and Bruce R. Butterworth analyzes 78 vehicular attacks between January 1973 and April 2018. According to their analysis, it is a growing trend, and a frightening one. The 78 attacks led to 281 deaths and around 1,200 injuries. Sixteen attacks took place between 1973 and 2007, while 62 took place between 2008 and April 2018. Thirty of these occurred in 2017 and the first four months of 2018 alone.

The Path To Terrorism: The Islamic State And Its Recruitment Strategies, Laura Turner

Honors Scholar Theses

The Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, a terrorist organization that commits acts of such brutality that even Al Qaeda has denounced it, has recruited approximately 21,000 foreign fighters from countries all over the world. Why is this group so appealing? What has made it so effective at recruitment? What methods does it employ to recruit so many individuals? This paper seeks to answer these questions by examining the recruitment strategies of ISIS. Case studies of individual foreign fighters are analyzed to assess the strength of three explanations of ISIS’ recruitment methods that dominate the current literature: strategic targeting, online …

Marketing Terrorism: Aum Shinrikyo's Cult Following In Post-Soviet Russia, Marc Unger, James Spearman, Cassandra Hoben

Politics, Philosophy, and Legal Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Declaration Of The Modern Caliphate: Understanding The Importance Of Mosul To Isil, Megan Marchetti, Matthew J. Smith, Ken Wallace

Politics, Philosophy, and Legal Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper examines the importance of the Iraqi city of Mosul to ISIL. Special attention is given to the conquering of Mosul, ISIL's governance, and the Battle of Mosul.

Turning To Political Violence: The Emergence Of Terrorism By Marc Sageman (Review), Zachary C. Shirkey

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/1 The Hill In Review, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter recapping the top stories of the week.

An Analysis Of The Changing Modus Operandi Of Terrorist Attacks In Europe, Hasan Arslan, Elizabeth Molloy

Student and Faculty Research Days

There is a sharp increase in both the number of incidents and the deaths caused by different types of attacks in Europe recently. The assailants claimed these attacks either on behalf of Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) or as "lone wolves" with no direct affiliation to the ISIL. However, there has been some change in the way some of the attacks were carried out. Also, there was a shift in their target selection. Security experts and authorities have indicated significant factors contributing to this development. This paper examines the apparent alarming trend in the change of terrorist modus …

Breaking The Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison And Religious Extremism In The War On Terror, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Two Awakenings, One Process: Implications From The Sunni Realignment In Iraq, 2006-2007, Diane Maye Zorri

Publications

There are several competing beliefs regarding how political factions at the sub-state level choose to align and realign during a state of armed conflict. This research draws upon current literature to provide a framework for comparing the Anbar and Baghdad Awakenings of 2006–2007. This research concludes that alignment and alliance building is a process based on structural constraints only at the point of institutional maturity, therefore the critical point in the realignment process for the U.S. military is at a point between an individual’s realignment and the wider community’s perception of their success.

Terrorism: The Essential Reference Guide, Rob Tench

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Book review of Colin P. Clarke's Terrorism: The Essential Reference Guide (2018) Santa Barbara, California, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 9781440856280.