Terrorism Studies Commons^™

Approaching The Military As A Profession Through The Clausewitzian Trinity, Adam T. Biggs

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

The Clausewitzian trinity (people, government, and military—or passion, reason, and chance) can enhance existing scholarship and discussions about military professionalism by emphasizing the fundamental purpose of military forces. Specifically, managing chance incorporates elements of reducing uncertainty and applying creativity as individuals develop coup d’oeil. Junior personnel manage chance by reducing cognitive load while enhancing cognitive skills needed to quickly assess battlefield conditions as they progress to becoming senior leaders. This article contrasts these ideas against the various roles assigned to civil-military forces in the Clausewitzian trinity to emphasize professionalism in developing military leaders.

Spezialpropaganda: The East German Military’S Covert Information-Warfare Program, Joe Cheravitch

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article details the East German military’s extensive, innovative covert-propaganda program, which was designed to influence West German attitudes for almost two decades during the Cold War. Unlike existing scholarship that primarily addresses intelligence-led disinformation, this study exclusively analyzes military-led information warfare. The article uses previously classified East German military records to examine capabilities and tactics ranging from fake conscription notices to radio broadcasts. The findings offer contemporary US military planners and practitioners insight into the complexities of integrating information-warfare capabilities, measuring the effectiveness of propaganda, and understanding adversarial influence campaigns, with direct implications for current Joint Force planning and …

Strategic Theory And Clausewitz’S Trinitarian Test, Lukas Milevski

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Carl von Clausewitz’s trinity represents a qualitative test for strategy in both theory and practice. With the trinity, Clausewitz transforms competing influences into a mark of theoretical quality. Synthesizing several translations of Clausewitz’s On War and interpretations by experts such as Hew Strachan, Antulio J. Echevarria II, and Frank G. Hoffman, this article suggests that Clausewitz believed that good theory encompasses and accounts for all fundamental forces of war, whereas bad theory emphasizes the extremes of one force. The trinity compels mandatory considerations for students of theory, war planners, and practitioners.

When Disaster Strikes Y’All Street: A Study On Cross-Sector Collaboration In Protecting U.S. Financial Critical Infrastructure, Rachael A. Zerr, John Friedlander

Publications and Research

This exploratory research examines public-private collaboration between corporate security leaders and local emergency responders in the North Texas financial corridor known as “Y’all Street.” Using perception-based survey data from senior representatives in the private and public sectors, the paper evaluates partnership strength, preparedness activities, information sharing, and operational coordination. Findings indicate that collaborative practices such as facility tours, joint exercises, and emergency planning are present, but that partnership maturity remains uneven and is not yet fully standardized across the corridor. The research concludes that more formalized and institutionalized coordination will be necessary to strengthen resilience as the region’s financial significance …

Rules Before Relief: International Organizations And The Administrative Burdens Of G5 Donor Counterterrorism And Sanctions Frameworks In The Mena Region, Khloud Awad

Theses and Dissertations

The international humanitarian system relies on a small group of powerful donor governments. The G5, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan, collectively provide the majority of bilateral humanitarian financing and attach extensive counterterrorism and sanctions compliance requirements to their funding. This study examines how these frameworks generate administrative burden for the international organizations that translate funding into assistance in conflict settings in the MENA region. The study draws on Administrative Burden Theory, adapted from its original citizen-state context to the donor-international organization relationship. Moreover, it adopts a qualitative design across four conflict-affected settings: Sudan, Palestine, Syria, …

No Mullahs, No Shah, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Socioeconomic Development In Preventing Violent Extremism, Caelan Stewart

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Revisionist Political Coalitions, Queering, And The Transmission Of Violence, Tom Y. Inouye

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which violent non-state actors (VNSAs), specifically revisionist political coalitions (RPCs), emerge from a state-centric international system that denies them access to formal avenues of political advocacy, legitimacy, and recognition. Challenging dominant portraits in international security that cast non-state-perpetrated violence as irrational or deviant, I argue that RPCs turn to brutality as a strategic response to exclusion produced by the Westphalian paradigm. Queer theory, particularly the concepts of legibility and strategic disidentification, is central to the reconceptualization of RPCs as “queered” political objects whose existence falls outside the normative boundaries of sovereignty and legitimacy.

To …

Gendered Resistance: Women’S Strategies Against Military Dictatorships, Argentina And Chile, Maricarmen Canales-Moreno

Publications and Research

This article compares the Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and the Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos (AFDD) in Chile to examine how women transformed their identities as mothers, wives, and daughters into strategies of political resistance under military dictatorship. It argues that maternal imagery, public mourning, and the transformation of private grief into collective defiance enabled women-led human rights organizations to challenge authoritarian regimes while strategically drawing on gender roles those regimes sought to enforce. The article traces the emergence of both organizations, their occupation of public space, hunger strikes, legal action, and engagement with international human …

From Sparks To Insights: An Aggregate Analysis On Arson And Explosive Data Reporting Published By The Atf (2014-2024), Zahra A. Khan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This thesis provides an aggregate assessment of arson and explosives incidents reported by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco, from 2014 to 2024. This thesis is written to highlight trends, investigative outcomes, and evolving patterns of criminal activity. Analysis of the data reveals notable shifts in incident frequencies, data distributions, and case resolution rates. This suggests both emerging technologies and changing operational dynamics that have affected long-term trends in arson and explosive incidents. Variations in incident types and investigative outcomes underscore the interplay between law enforcement priorities, resource allocation, and reporting practices over the ten-year period. The study also …

Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Security Implications Of The China-Russia-North Korea Triangle, Brian G. Carlson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article analyzes the evolving strategic dynamics within the China-Russia-North Korea triangle and their implications for global security. It argues that while the strengthened Russia–North Korea relationship poses risks for China’s global strategy and its major economic partnerships, for now, China also derives some benefits from these close ties and considers the risks to be manageable. Drawing on recent diplomatic developments, military cooperation, and regional responses, the article offers a nuanced assessment of how this alignment affects European and Indo-Pacific theaters. The analysis provides US policymakers with insight into the risks of opportunistic aggression and the strategic calculations driving these …

Drones And The Changing Character Of War, Erik A. Davis

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Cheap drones have transformed the character of war by creating a “mass effect” that challenges traditional principles of force concentration. Unlike commentary focused on offense-defense debates or ethics, this article explains how Jevons’s Paradox, the Red Queen Effect, and models like Lanchester’s Laws and Hughes’s Salvo Equations underpin this shift. Drawing on lessons from Ukraine, historical theory, and production trends, it explains why the production of cheap “precision mass” is expected to accelerate. For military and policy practitioners, the analysis offers urgent guidance for adapting tactics, procurement, and doctrine to a battlefield dominated by ubiquitous, low-cost drones—before adversaries exploit this …

Parameters Winter 2025-26, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Winter 2025–26 issue of Parameters. We open with an In Focus commentary: “Responsibly Pursuing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) for the War Fighter” by A. Blair Wilcox and C. Anthony Pfaff. The issue also features two forums (Indo-Pacific Deterrence and Considerations for Modern Warfare) and the inaugural Strategic Competition Corner.

Transactional Peace Without Reconciliation: A Dialectical Analysis Of Power In Trump’S Israel–Palestine (Hamas) Peace Plan, Syaiful Rohman, Lydia Freyani Hawadi, Moh. Iqbal Bulgini Ib

Journal of Terrorism Studies

Abstract

The Israel– Palestine (Hamas) conflict in the Gaza Strip has persisted for decades, marked by cyclical violence and chronic diplomatic stalemate. One of the latest attempts to end this enduring conflict emerged from the initiative of U.S. President Donald J. Trump through the so-called “20-Point Gaza Peace Plan,” which was claimed to offer a comprehensive solution. However, this approach has been widely criticized for its transactional nature, perceived bias, and neglect of the historical and existential complexities underlying the conflict. This article aims to critically analyze Trump’s peace initiative through the philosophical framework of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1807), …

Impact Of Pakistan-Nigeria Defense Cooperation On The Nigerian Armed Forces, Adekunle James Okhogbe

Journal of Terrorism Studies

The study examined the impact of Pakistan-Nigeria Defense Cooperation on the Nigerian Armed Forces. The study utilized a descriptive survey and documentary research design to provide a comprehensive analysis of the cooperation’s dimensions. The target population comprised serving personnel across the Nigerian Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, estimated at approximately 20,000 members nationwide. Using the Taro Yamane sample size determination technique, a sample size of 400 respondents was drawn from this population. Primary and secondary data collection methods were applied. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed …

The Rise Of Lukarawa: Analyzing The Factors Contributing To The Emergence Of A New Terrorist Group In Nigeria, Eziho Promise Ogele

Journal of Terrorism Studies

The paper examined historical and socio-economic factors contributing to the emergence of Lakurawa terrorism in North West Nigeria. The Lakurawa is one of the terrorist organizations operated in Nigerian Republic's forests that is situated along its shoreline, which became a haven for terrorist groups. Approximately seven camps are operating in areas such as Bangi, Dankano, Galmi, Maradi, Masallata, and YarBasira. The strategic location enables free movement between Nigeria and Niger, facilitating the establishment of hidden camps within the vast bushlands of the region. The absence of the federal government created an ungoverned space, leading to a power vacuum. The paper …

The Dynamics Of Terrorism And Counter-Terrorism: The South Africa Experience, Oluranti Samson Afowowe

Journal of Terrorism Studies

Defining Terrorism within the context of South African government promulgated Terrorism Act of 1967 as’ action(s) that endanger the maintenance of law and order’, innocuously suggest that the phenomenon of terrorism in South African political space is not a recent development. This study examines the historical, socio-economic and demographic dis-equilibrium as indicative factors of terrorism within the context of South Africa. Theoretical postulations on the phenomenon of terrorism within the context of South Africa state experience also engaged the attention of this study. Attempts are made to identify the nexus between social relationships and the nature, essence and political dimensions …

Understanding The Complexity Of Child Soldier Recruitment Problems In Sudan, Maskur Riyadi

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study examines human rights violations in the recruitment of child soldiers in Darfur, Sudan, where more than 300,000 boys and girls under the age of eighteen were recruited by government armed forces, militias, or non-state armed groups. Using a qualitative literature study, this study aims to examine the factors behind the recruitment of child soldiers and examine the phenomenon using international humanitarian law. This study concludes that the recruitment of child soldiers is caused by competition for limited natural resources, easy access to weapons, and unequal levels of education and economy. The violations found based on humanitarian law are; …

State Narrative Dominance In Terrorism Reporting: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Kompas Coverage, Putri Khairunnisa

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study examines Kompas.com’s news construction of the bombing at the Makassar Cathedral Church on 28 March 2021 by integrating Entman’s Media Framing theory with Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis. Using all news reports published between 28 March and 5 April 2021, the study finds that Kompas frames the event through security-oriented diction, agent–action structures that foreground state authorities as the primary actors, and high-modality statements that minimize uncertainty during the early crisis phase. Intertextual references to previous terrorism cases accelerate the labeling of the perpetrators as part of the JAD network. At the level of discursive practice, reliance on official …

Evaluating The Effects Of The Counterinsurgency On Boko Haram In Nigeria, Godwin Ejuvwedia Sadjere, Ekene Jude Onyiriuka, Justice Chinedu Mbam, Eloghosa Anderson Ikponmwonba, Ngozi Palmer Onyiriuka, Samuel Adedeji Afolabi

Journal of Terrorism Studies

Boko Haram insurgency debuted in Nigeria in 2009 and has been on for more than eleven years and has become intractable even after the government instituted a counterinsurgency in 2013. This paper analysed the effect of the counterinsurgency on Boko Haram and the insurgency in Nigeria in general based on attacks by the insurgents.

Historical data on attacks by Boko Haram and other criminal groups were collected using web scraping by Python and subjected to statistical analysis to build a relationship between the insurgency and the counterinsurgency. Eleven years data from 2012 were collected but six years data from 2017 …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Rethinking The Narrative Of Turkey’S July 15 Events: An Intelligence Operation Disguised As A Coup Attempt, Mustafa Kirisci, Ibrahim Kocaman, Murat Balci

Publications

Academia, think tanks, and international media have largely adopted the Turkish government’s narrative that the events of July 15, 2016, constituted a failed coup attempt. This dominant framing has shaped policy responses and scholarly interpretations despite the authoritarian context in which it was crafted. Many Turkish and Western scholars accepted the Turkish government’s narrative that the July 15 events were a failed coup attempt. They often rely on surface-level indicators and official statements without critically engaging with available evidence. Also, they disregarded substantial evidence and defendants’ statements in judicial proceedings that directly contradict official statements. One notable exception to this …

Parameters Autumn 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 issue of Parameters. We open with two In Focus commentaries. The first, “A Case for Military Proportionality: Disabling Nuclear Plants” by Henry Sokolski, offers practical ways in which military planners can disable civilian targets, such as nuclear infrastructure, without undermining operational goals, alliance cohesion, or long-term political objectives. Our second commentary, “The Consequences of Declining Patriotism in the United States” by Neil N. Snyder, presents findings from a national survey showing a decline in patriotism, especially among Generation Z nonveterans. His article highlights a growing civil-military values gap with implications for recruitment and national …

The Consequences Of Declining Patriotism In The United States, Neil N. Snyder

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Patriotism, an important determinant of American civil-military relations, is in decline among many Americans. This article analyzes the results of an extensive national survey fielded to assess Americans’ attitudes and finds that more veterans value patriotism than Generation Z nonveterans, that Americans’ trust in their military is correlated with their value for patriotism, and that members of Generation Z are more likely to consider serving in the US military if they value patriotism. Although patriotism is normally a source of national unity, it may now be a source of division between veterans, nonveterans, and Generation Z.

Russian Arctic Land Forces And Defense Trends Redefined By Nato And Ukraine, Troy J. Bouffard, Lester W. Grau, Charles K. Bartles, Mathieu Boulègue

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that Russia’s Arctic land forces have been weakened by the Russia-Ukraine War and NATO’s northern expansion, creating a strategic window for Western militaries to bolster their Arctic capabilities. Unlike existing studies that focus on maritime operations and the Northern Sea Route, it integrates technical assessments of ground-based Arctic platforms with analysis of military-district reforms. Using a mixed methodology that incorporates equipment specifications, Russian government documents, media reports, and NATO strategic-response evaluations, this article constructs a comprehensive baseline understanding of Russia’s Arctic land-force potential and readiness. Policy and military practitioners will benefit from actionable insights into Arctic force-design …

Managing Crowdfunding Risks In Terrorism Financing: A Mediated Analysis Of Government Intervention And Donation Intentions, Fithriadi Muslim, Eva Achjani Zulfa, Muhamad Syauqillah

Indonesia Law Review

Crowdfunding has emerged as a popular platform for collective funding of social, charitable, and commercial projects. However, its increasing use has raised concerns over potential misuse, including as a source of terrorism financing. This study investigates the relationship between donation intentions using crowdfunding and the risk of crowdfunding being used as a source of terrorism financing. Furthermore, it explores the mediating role of government intervention in this relationship. Using a Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) second-order approach, the research evaluates the interaction between donor intentions, crowdfunding risks, and government regulations. Findings reveal that while donor intentions significantly impact the …

Unveiling The Marketing Tactics Of Indonesian Fundamentalist Group: A Delphi Method Analysis, Arindra Khrisna Karamoy, Adrianus Meliala

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This study investigated whether Indonesian fundamentalist group utilizes marketing principles for recruitment. The research employed a Delphi method, gathering expert consensus from marketing, communication, and visual communication fields to assess the group's use of marketing strategies in attracting sympathizers and disseminating their ideology. The first round demonstrated complete agreement on the use of marketing principles. The second round revealed some disagreement regarding the classification of mosques as distribution channels, suggesting a nuanced application focusing more on promotion than traditional marketing models. The findings highlight sophisticated marketing techniques used by this group, emphasizing the need for further investigation into how such …

Parameters Summer 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies).