Terrorism Studies Commons^™

Guantanamo And The End Of Hostilities, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

Detainees in the War on Terror have been at Guantanamo Bay for over a decade. The justification for these detentions has been, at least in part, the on-going hostilities in Afghanistan. However, President Obama’s announcement in his 2013 State of the Union address that “By the end of [2014] our war in Afghanistan will be over” may undercut the continuing detention authority for at least some of these Guantanamo detainees. This paper analyzes the legal doctrine of release and repatriation in light of President Obama’s announcement and concludes that the President’s determination that hostilities have concluded between specific Parties to …

Leaving A Legacy, Walter Lotze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The ongoing conflict in Somalia, and the complexities that come with finding lasting solutions to a conflict that has raged for decades now, continue to perplex the international community. While a range of previously tried and tested approaches to conflict management are being applied, it is becoming apparent that the international toolkit for responding to conflict situations of such complexity is extremely limited. Indeed, as one international conference after another on Somalia takes place, compacts are signed and funding windows established, old frameworks are abandoned and new ones are forged, and roadmap after roadmap pave the way for further engagement, …

Somali Battlegrounds: On Interest And Accountability, Ines Mzali

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the wake of the latest and deadliest of Al-Shabab's attacks in Kenya since Kenyan troops entered Somalia in October 2011, Ben Rawlence reiterates the question raised anew by each attack: "What is Kenya doing in Somalia and is it worth the price?" The question leads him to explore the contradiction between the official objectives of the mission and Kenya's particular motivations to launch an offensive of its own. This problematic discrepancy also draws attention to the question of accountability when violations of international humanitarian law have occurred in the context of a military operation by a neighboring country and …

Update On Geospatial Patterns Of Antecedent Behavior Among Perpetrators In The American Terrorism Study (Ats), Brent L. Smith, Paxton Roberts, Kelly Damphousse

Research Projects

As part of the Terrorism and Extremist Violence in the United States (TEVUS) database integration effort, researchers at the Terrorism Research Center in Fulbright College at the University of Arkansas and the University of Oklahoma have been adding: 1) federal terrorism court cases and associated data and 2) incident and antecedent geospatial data from these court cases to the American Terrorism Study (ATS). The goal of the project is to examine geospatial patterns in perpetrator behavior and determine if the patterns identified in earlier studies have changed significantly. The ATS allows examination of a number of different units of analysis. …

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.

Breach Of Allegiance: The History Of Treason Charges In The U.S., And Its Rebirth In The Age Of Terrorism, David Lewis

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a legal history and analysis of how the treason clause has been utilized since the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789. Further, the United States and the United Kingdom share not only a historical parallel of the meaning and use of the charge of treason, but also an abandonment of using the charge today. This thesis will provide an in-depth legal history of treason charges in the United States, along with its close parallels in historical evolution and usage to that of the United Kingdom. Focusing prominently on treason throughout United States …

The 2002 National Security Strategy: The Foundation Of A Doctrine Of Preemption, Prevention, Or Anticipatory Action, Troy Lorenzo Ewing

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, initiated a strategic shift in American national security policy. For the United States, terrorism was no longer a distant phenomenon visited upon faraway regions; it had come to America with stark brutality.1 Consequently, the administration of President George W. Bush sought to advance a security strategy to counter the proliferating threat of terrorism.

The ensuing 2002 National Security Strategy articulated the willingness of the United States to oppose terrorists, and rogue nation-states by merging the strategies of "preemptive" and "preventive" warfare into an unprecedented strategy of "anticipatory action," known as the Doctrine of …

War And Insurgency In The Western Sahara, Geoffrey Jensen

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Home to the largest functional military barrier in the world, the Western Sahara has a long history of colonial conquest and resistance, guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency, and evolving strategic thought. This monograph explores the past, present, and future of the region, including its relationship to developments in Morocco, Algeria, and elsewhere in North Africa.

At a crucial crossroads between Africa and Europe, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and the "Arab World" and the West, Morocco has long had a special place in U.S. diplomacy and strategic planning. Since September 11, 2001, Morocco's importance to the United States has only increased, …

Espionage And The Optimal Standard Of The C-Tpat Program In Port Security, Aniruddha Bagchi, Jomon Aliyas Paul

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Framing Resistance: How Hamas Uses Collective Action Frames To Attract And Maintain Human Resources, Thomas George Hagen

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of collective action framing mechanisms and processes by Hamas in order to aquire and maintain potential and existing human resources and to help researchers and scholars of contentious politics and social movement theory to gain a greater understanding of the role frames play in that decision by showing the ways social movement entrepreneurs use them to acquire, maintain, and motivate human resources for the purpose of collective action.

Drone Effects: Structural Change In Al Qa̕ Ida Communications, Stacy Michelle Bush

Theses Digitization Project

This study focused on the effects of drone attacks on the Al Qa ̕ida organization because the former CIA director, Leon Panetta, believed that this is the only tool that allows the United States to tackle or try to disrupt the leadership of Al Qa ̕ida. The use of drones as a tool to moderate situations and conduct covert operations by the CIA and U.S. military is a topic of debate and controversy. Drones are invaluable in regards to maintaining a presence in areas that can be extremely dangerous for service members or other individuals.

Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

People around the globe have embraced democracy to bring about positive social change to address our environmental, economic, and militaristic challenges. Yet, there is no agreement on a definition of democracy that can guide social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model is a unifying theory of democracy to guide healthy, sustainable, and just social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model consists of ten elements, organized as five polarity pairs: freedom & authority, justice & due process, diversity & equality, human-rights & communal-obligations, and participation & representation. In this model each element has positive aspects and negative aspects and …